The Detective Agency II
by Lordoftheghostking28
Summary: We're bored here! Send in your mysteries! Come on, we know you have some! Anything to keep Charmy occupied! *Chaotix Detective Agency: NOT ACCEPTING. See inside for details. All Author Notes are critical to this.*
1. Prologue

_**THE DEADLINE HAS PASSED! YOU MAY NOT SEND IN MORE STUFF!**_

* * *

_**PLEASE ONLY SEND MYSTERIES TO ME VIA PM MESSAGING! UNLESS YOU DO NOT HAVE AN ACCOUNT, DO NOT REVIEW WITH A MYSTERY!**_

**All right, guys! I'm back! I know a few of you were sort of waiting for this…so here's the prologue. When I am no longer accepting any mysteries or any ideas, there will be a notice. In the prologue thingy too, so people don't just skip everything and not read. **

**PLEASE NOTE I WILL ONLY BE ACCEPTING 5 MORE MYSTERIES, AND THE DEADLINE IS **_**AUGUST 11, 2012**_**. IF YOUR MYSTERY IS NOT CHOSEN, PLEASE DON'T GIVE ME A HARD TIME. I MAY COMBINE A FEW IDEAS INTO ONE. **

**Ok, anyway, if you do send in mysteries, guidelines are here:**

**Mystery name:**

**OC Name(Or already invented character. If you want an already invented character, disregard this entire thing and just send in a name and mystery you want):**

**Gender:**

**Age:**

**Species:**

**Description:**

**Mystery you would like me to write/any pointers or anything:**

**I will not kill off main characters, but everyone else is sort of fair game. If you're new to this series of stuff, in ****The Detective Agency****, I killed off Fiona Fox on a request. And I'm regretting it. Oh, well. Also keep everything in the 'T' range. If you send in something…outrageously bloody or something, expect me to tone it down.**

**Ok, well, now onto the story. Re-cap of what happened at the end of the last one right here:**

**XxXxXxXx**

_More fireworks were launched into the air in an explosion of colour. Sonic shakily stood and headed over towards where Scourge had fallen._

_He was lying on a large rock, struggling to crawl away but pitching to the side in a loud moan. Sonic approached him and stopped, horrified. _

_The knife that Scourge had used to try and kill him with was imbedded in his back to the left of his spine, the blade protruding from his stomach. _

_"You…you've won this battle…but not…the war…" Scourge gasped. "I'll…get you…Just wait."_

_"We've got to get you to a hospital." _

_"No!" Scourge coughed. "Never! Chaos…Chaos Control!"_

_He vanished in a flash of light, leaving behind the Emerald. _

**XxXxXxXx**

It was, of course; raining very, very hard. Scourge couldn't see three inches in front of his face and the rain stung his wound terribly, washing his blood away in a tiny stream. He couldn't walk, only crawl towards…wherever. Anywhere was better than where he was previously. The knife's hilt stuck out of his back, the end of the blade protruding from his stomach. Ironic how he was brought down with his own weapon.

Scourge's arm gave out and he lay on his side, rain drowning out all cries of help. He had no idea where he was…or if he'd even live to see the end of the rainfall. His vision was growing darker by the second, the pain dulled by approaching death.

He shut his eyes tightly, hoping that it didn't have to last much longer. Just as his hearing was slipping away, he made out the sound of footsteps. Adrenaline shot through him, giving him the last of his dying strength to stay conscious.

"What do we have here?" A smooth, calm voice asked no one in particular.

"H…help…" Scourge muttered, trying to draw in a deep breath.

"I have no intention of helping you of all people, Scourge."

Scourge had no idea who the stranger was. He only knew he was fast approaching complete darkness, where the light wouldn't shine again. He gritted his teeth together, managing to stifle a moan of pain.

"But then again…you know something I don't." The stranger said.

Scourge couldn't spare the energy to respond. His vision was going again, this time completely white. Death made the rain and the stranger's voice contort so it sounded like they were on the other side of a tunnel.

The rescuer had retrieved Scourge's limp body from the mud, carrying him to some unknown location. Scourge couldn't feel anything anymore…it was though he was lying on pure air. The stranger was talking to him, but he only caught bits and pieces of what he was saying: "…Awake…help…knife…Chaos…lucky…"

Scourge couldn't make out the next part. But before he completely lost consciousness, he caught what he believed to be a name: "…Nazo…"

**XxXxXxXx**

"You know, it's sort of weird…" Charmy thought.

"What, you?" Vector asked.

"No, the fact that we really wanted mysteries to come our way, and we got that. Then all we wanted was a break. We got that. And now we want more mysteries."

Espio rolled his eyes and flipped through random channels on the TV.

"It's like a never ending cycle! A paradox!" Charmy exclaimed, jumping up from the couch and flying in circles. "It'll continue like this for the rest of our lives! What will we do?!"

"Sit down and shut up." Espio growled.

"I don't see how that's going to solve any mysteries or give us breaks." Charmy put his hands on his hips.

"Sit down and shut up or the police will be on the mystery of why you're taking a _permanent _break."

"Oh, ok. That's a good enough reason." Charmy sat down on the armrest and picked at some loose fabric.

From the other room came a loud crash. The Chaotix Agency's boss, Lordoftheghostking28, or GhostKing for short, was attempting to make something edible to eat. The last time this happened, they ended up ordering pizza, using three fire extinguishers and watching football.

"Ignore that!" GhostKing called.

"What is she doing?" Vector asked, casting a nervous glance in the direction of the kitchen.

"I'd rather not know." Espio sighed.

GhostKing came running into the TV room. The dark trench coat she normally wore was smoldering and her floppy detective hat thing was slightly on fire. "Where's the fire extinguisher?"

"AAAAGH!" Vector leapt up and ran towards the kitchen. "What did you do?!"

"I set a corndog on fire!" GhostKing ran after him.

Espio and Charmy exchanged glances. "Note to self: never let GhostKing cook. She's a great boss, but horrible in the kitchen." Espio said.

"Yeah." Charmy agreed.

Vector came back. "We're ordering pizza."

"HURRAY!" Charmy cheered.

**XxXxXxXx**

**I bet you all know where this is going. But I don't. So this should be awesome! Send in your mysteries, guys! **

**PS: if you use proper grammar and spelling, you're more likely to be picked.**

**Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

**Lordoftheghostking28**


	2. Chapter 1: Sunnyside's Mystery

** CHAPTER 1 *No title submitted***

** Sunnysides' mystery, this is. (Poor Yoda imitation) **

** Right, so I was reviewing my reviews as of yesterday. I had 12 reviews/PM messages. Wow. You guys are awesome.**

_** But PLEASE! IF YOU HAVE A FANFICTION ACCOUNT, PLEASE PM ME STUFF. ONLY IF YOU DON'T HAVE AN ACCOUNT YOU MAY REVIEW WITH A MYSTERY. **_

** And I'm sorry, but people who sent in stuff for ****The Detective Agency****… you won't have another chance for another mystery, mostly because I'm trying to get everyone a fair chance.**

** Ok, so here begins another series of random mysteries. Randomness ensured, laughs and other random stuff. A slight bit of horror also included along with awesomeness. BEGIN!**

** XxXxXxXx**

The three detectives were enjoying another carefree day. Or…perhaps the right phrase was, '_suffering through another carefree day'_. Although most of this was due to Charmy's boredom; causing trouble left and right to entertain himself.

"_CHARMY!_" Vector roared as the bee blew all the papers off the main desk.

"But Vector…I'm so bored! And I'm really sad, because Breezy moved away! I'll never see her again!" With that, he sat down on the desk and cried. Vector and Espio rolled their eyes.

Breezy the Cat was Charmy's so-called 'girlfriend', but she was more a hero to him than anything else. Just a few days ago she had moved away to another continent, leaving the poor bee in a state that was as close to depression as he could get.

"Don't worry, Charmy. You'll meet someone else." Vector sighed.

"But I don't wanna! I don't wanna meet anyone else!" The bee wailed.

That was about the moment that GhostKing's office's door slammed open and she ran down the stairs, black trench coat trailing behind her. She held up a large white envelope, a mixture of happiness and oh-crap-here-we-go-again on her face. "Guess what I found in the mail pile." She said.

"IS IT FROM BREEZY?!" Charmy leapt up and swiped the envelope from her hand, tearing it open in a flash. He read it over.

"Well?" Espio asked.

"You guys! We have another mystery!" The bee forgot about his heartbreak and somehow performed a dance gig in the air. "We don't have to be bored anymore! Now we just have to worry about our lives because we might die again!"

Vector snatched the letter away from him and began to read out loud: " '_Chaotix Detective Agency, I need your help badly. My brother, Josh, has gone missing. I'm not sure if it was a kidnapping or not, but I need your help. He's been gone a week and no one's seen any sign of him. I'm sure you've had lots of cases like this and that's why I turned to a group that's experienced. Meet me at the mall tomorrow at GameStop, 12:00 PM, for further details. Thanks from Luke the Hedgehog.'_"

"Wow, we already have a kidnapping thing!" Charmy squealed. "This is awesome!"

"Well, we have a while yet. Might as well enjoy the rest of our break and start strong in the morning." Vector suggested.

** XxXxXxXx**

Out of all stores, GameStop was the least populated as the three detectives walked in. The only ones in there besides themselves were the cashier and a bright blue hedgehog with upturned quills near the back that must be Luke.

"Hey! Are you Luke?" Charmy asked.

The hedgehog turned. He wore blue jeans and a jacket that was gray with red stripes. He was also wearing blue and white sneakers that looked like a different colour version of Tails' shoes. And to complete the almost totally blue look, he wore two blue gloves also.

"Yeah, that's me." He said. "Are you three the detectives?"

"We received your letter yesterday." Espio said. "We're hoping you have more information for us."

"I do. I just didn't want to put it all in one letter in case the impossible happened and you didn't receive it." Luke pulled something from his pocket.

It was a spiked wrist bracelet with one of the spikes broken off. "This was Josh's. It's really the only clue we found…well, this and his house was obviously broken into."

"Who's '_we_'?" Vector asked.

"It's kind of a long story." Luke said. "But I suppose you need to hear it. My brother and I were kicked from our house and forced to live on our own. We've been begging for anything for about a year now…and then he came and basically rescued us not that long ago."

"Who's '_he_'?"

"His name's Shadow the Hedgehog. He's basically the father we never really had. I'm not even sure if he knows how much he's done for us, but we're still looking for ways to pay him back." Luke beamed.

"The funny thing is we actually know that guy!" Charmy said. "And I never knew he was nice!"

Luke laughed. "Apparently that's what a lot of people think about him. But what I don't understand is why someone would kidnap my brother. He's…really just a nobody. He doesn't really have an important job or anything."

"Where does he work?" Espio asked.

"He's got a desk job that he can't seem to tear himself away from." Luke said. "I myself work as a chef in a restaurant downtown."

"Maybe he's been having trouble at work." Vector suggested. "Has he ever said anything about it?"

"Not really. But the night before he was taken, he said to me, 'Luke, I want to quit, but they won't let me.'"

"And then he went missing, and all you could find was the bracelet?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

** XxXxXxXx**

"This is the building." Luke pointed to a tall, almost completely glass structure. "He works on one of the top floors."

" 'Gonzo Insurance Agency?'" Espio asked.

"Or GIA." Luke said, pulling open the door.

The inside of the building was absolutely sparkling, not a speck of dust anywhere. The secretary was professional looking and didn't miss a beat as they walked up to the front desk.

"May I help you?"

"We're looking for Josh the Hedgehog. Is he here, by any chance? He works on floor seven in office 64." Luke said.

The secretary quickly glanced at the computer before saying, "I'm sorry. There is no record of Josh the Hedgehog on these files. I don't believe he's even worked here even for a short amount of time."

"What do you mean? He's my brother! This is where he goes every day-"

"I'm sorry, sir, but he's not here." The secretary glared.

"How is that possible?" Luke demanded. "I've even seen his office! How can you just…" He trailed off.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave, sir."

The group quickly left after that, sitting on a long bench outside the GIA.

"We'll find him!" Charmy said. "Don't worry!"

"I think I should show you the break-in." Luke finally sighed. "Maybe you'll be able to make more out of it than I was able to."

** XxXxXxXx**

Luke and Josh's apartment was small, two bedrooms, a single bathroom, a kitchen and a main room. The lock was broken on the door, so Luke just walked right in. Everything seemed normal in the rooms they passed until they came to Josh's room.

Things were knocked everywhere across the room, more than one object broken or even trampled. Espio knelt down to examine the remains of a lava lamp imbedded in the carpet and Charmy gaped in horror at the broken TV.

"But the amazing thing is I never heard a thing." Luke admitted. "I don't know how the kidnappers managed to do this, but they're good."

"Look at this." Espio said, pointing to the stain. "You can see the outline of a combat boot."

"Does Josh wear that kind of shoe?" Charmy asked.

"No." Luke said.

"Do you know anyone who does?" Vector asked.

"I don't know…we never really had any friends or-"

"I might know." The group jumped and turned towards the door, where Shadow was suddenly standing.

"How did you get here?" Luke asked.

"I came to ask if you found anything since the kidnapping." Shadow said. "And it appears you've got help."

"So what about the boot print?" Espio asked.

"You probably wouldn't believe me." Shadow said, staring at the remains of the lava lamp. "But GUN wears combat boots like that. Why they want Josh, I don't know."

"You're kidding." Luke gaped. "We've got to rescue him!"

"Easier said than done. They must have a reason for doing this."

"Can't we talk to them about this?" Luke asked.

"We've got to. Shadow, can you take us to them?" Vector asked.

** XxXxXxXx**

The outside of GUN was nothing more than a military base surrounded by tall fences of barbed wire. Army vehicles lined the courtyard between the gate and the door. And sitting outside the base in a folding chair was a soldier, a rifle across his lap and a newspaper in his hands.

"We need to speak to the person in charge!" Charmy said bravely.

The soldier jumped at the sudden visitor, reaching for his rifle slightly. "Who are you? What is your purpose here?"

"Let them in, Drake." Shadow said. "This is between us and the Commander."

"Yes, sir!" The soldier wasted no time in calling up the Commander in a communicator, then escorting the group inside the base. "Don't stray. Don't touch anything." He said.

The Commander was waiting for them, flanked by two guards with rifles that could be readied to fire at a second's notice. He nodded at the guard—Drake—and then said, "Follow me."

"Shadow…do you work for GUN?" Espio asked.

"You never knew?" Shadow asked. "I'm one of their top agents."

They all entered into a small office, the two guards standing at the doors while the Commander sat behind a desk and motioned to the chairs in front of him. "Please, sit."

The group sat, Luke quickly launching into his story; shortening it to the point where they had found evidence of GUN at their apartment.

"Josh the Hedgehog, you say?" The Commander said.

"My brother." Luke growled.

"He is indeed here."

"What do you want with him? Is he ok?" Luke demanded, jumping up. The two guards at the back didn't move in the slightest.

"I assure you, he's being well cared for. But he's here because he knows something we don't." The Commander leaned back in his chair. "I'm afraid that's all I can tell you for the moment."

"Can I talk to him?" Luke asked. "And why haven't you let him go yet? Hasn't he told you anything?"

"That's the thing. He can't remember." The Commander said. "He told the truth. This information is buried deep within his mind."

"What is possibly this important?" Luke demanded.

The three detective exchanged glances. There they go again, getting themselves into something involving the fate of multiple lives.

"I'm afraid that's classified." The Commander stood. "But if you want to see him, please follow me."

The group stood, following the Commander down multiple hallways until they came to a prison block. Josh was in one of the cells.

"Josh!" Luke shouted. "What happened?"

"I really don't know!" The slightly darker hedgehog said. "They just came and dragged me out of the house!"

"And they erased every trace of you existing in civilization. Your workplace was supposedly non-existent…I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but I think GUN made you quit your job."

Josh sighed loudly. "Really? Now I'm really mad…"

"I thought you _wanted_ to quit."

"It kind of gets really dull there, sometimes." Josh sighed. "But the boss said I'm one of the most dedicated workers…I guess in a way GUN did me a favor…"

"What did they want of you?" Luke lowered his voice.

"Something about-" Josh was cut off as the Commander yanked Luke away from his prison.

"That's classified!" the GUN leader growled. "Guards! Show them to the door! Now!"

And just like that, they found themselves outside the base again.

"What do I do?" Luke sighed. "They're going to keep him locked up forever!"

"Not while we're on the case." Vector promised.

"I believe the question they need an answer to involves past events." Shadow said. "I overheard the Commander speaking to the President a while ago. Somehow, Josh has information on the attack by Scourge."

"Are you _kidding_?" Espio asked.

"No. But what he could know is beyond me."

"So is there anything you can do?" Luke asked. "Anything at all?"

"Not while he's being held by GUN." Vector sighed. "But when the opportunity arises to free him, we will take it. And don't worry, you'll be with us."

"So until then…what next?" Luke stared at his feet as he walked.

"Go back to your normal life. Keep in touch with us…we'll let you know all we can." Espio said.

"Right," Luke seemed to wilt. "Good luck."

** XxXxXxXx**

"That poor guy!" Charmy said a bit later. "I wish there was something we could do!"

"Me too. But until the chance comes…there's really nothing we can do to help." Vector sighed. "I wonder what GUN's up to…I wonder if they know something we don't about Scourge's attack. Was there a backup plan in case this one failed—which it did—and they're trying to stop it before it's too late?"

"Something tells me we'll find out." Espio said.

**XxXxXxXx**

** And thus concludes the first chapter. WITH A CLIFFIE! ALREADY!**

** So, sunnysides, you like?**

** Next up is TheFoxyNerd's mystery!**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28**


	3. Chapter 2: Remember the Clues

**CHAPTER 2; Remember the Clues**

**TheFoxyNerd's mystery!**

**Because of shortened time tomorrow...I upload today. I may be dead by tomorrow night at 9:06 Eastern Standard Time. Or asleep. ca't tell at the moment...**

**Still time to send stuff in! I close by Friday, August 11! **

**Oh, and important announcement at the end of the story under the Author's Notes. I NEED THAT QUESTION ANSWERED!**

"I think GUN is secretly working for Scourge!" Charmy said, wielding a fork like a sword. At his height…it would make an ideal sword, too.

"I think not." Vector said, grabbing his fork from the bee and eating his pancakes.

"Yeah, well, that's MY opinion!" Charmy protested. "And I think they're in cahoots!"

Espio just sighed and ignored the two and focused on his food. As far as he could tell, these pancakes hadn't just come out of the freezer…

"Vector, did you make these?"

"No. I thought you did."

The group was struck silent.

"Did…Did GhostKing actually make something _edible_?!" Charmy gasped.

"Yeah, with a little help." The group turned to see their boss flanked by cyborg lynx with light blonde hair in a messy bun. She was wearing a NOFX band t-shirt with denim shorts and black ankle high all stars. She had black eyes and light brownish orange-ish fur. She was wearing a black headband and had two golden hoop earrings in her ears.

"This is Sydney." GhostKing said. "She's a great cook."

Vector leapt up and grabbed Sydney's hand in a greeting. "Thank you! Thank you so much! Thank Chaos you've heard our cries of help! Our boss can't cook anything!"

GhostKing facepalmed.

"Oh. Well…uh…thanks." Sydney shrugged. "I have to go now. See you soon."

She left quite fast.

"Really?" GhostKing asked.

"What? It's true!" Vector protested.

**XxXxXxXx**

**THREE DAYS LATER…**

"Luke, we still haven't found out anything. Things like this take a while, especially when you're trying to not draw attention to yourself." Espio said into the phone.

"I know…I'm just worried. A lot of weird things are happening lately." Luke sighed. "I'll try not to call too much."

"We'll keep you updated on whatever we learn." Espio promised.

He had just set the phone down when it rang again.

"Hello?"

"I need your help!" Tails shouted. "My friend Sydney is missing! I haven't seen her for three days!"

"Uh…is Sydney by any chance half cyborg…?"

"Did you meet her before?" Tails asked.

"She came to the Agency and taught GhostKing how to make pancakes." Espio said.

"Oh, yeah, that sounds like her." Tails chuckled. "But she's gone! I don't know where she went, but I think it might have to do with her memory card. It's had probablems before and she's wondered off…I think it might have happened again and I need your help to find her!"

"Fine. We'll meet you at your lab in an hour." Espio hung up.

**XxXxXxXx**

They met Tails on his front porch, where he hurriedly filled them in with details about where Sydney last was.

"As far as I know…the last place she was before she went missing was with you." Tails said. "She could have gone anywhere…"

"We need to find her!" Charmy exclaimed. "If we don't, GhostKing will burn the Agency down! Come on, you guys! Hurry! Before that happens!"

"Where was she found the last time her memory card went nuts?" Vector asked.

"She was knee-deep in a pond, sort of staring at a water lily. The time before that she was in an abandoned building. She could be anywhere…but I've come to notice she's never around huge groups of people."

"Should we start searching the fields and such, then?" Espio asked.

"I guess so. I'll stay here and try to track her." Tails said, hurrying back into his house.

**XxXxXxXx**

The three detectives had been searching around the outskirts of the town for at least an hour. No sign of Sydney. Tails wasn't having any luck either.

They were keeping in touch with a device that resembled an iPhone, but produced a 3D image of the caller. These awesome inventions were given to them by Grock, a past client after they stopped his runaway robot that was taken over by something called the 'Weegee Virus'.

"Maybe she just started walking and never stopped." Tails gasped. "If that happened….she could be miles and miles away!"

"..Tails, I'm pretty sure that didn't happen," Espio said.

"Why? How would you know? You don't even know Sydney! You don't…nevermind. Why do you say that?"

"Because she's wondering around a field in front of us." Espio said calmly.

"I'll be right there!" Tails cut the link.

"Thank Chaos she's safe! Now let's get her back to the Agency and get her to make us cookies, and not the kind that are already made and you have to put them in the oven!" Charmy said.

They approached Sydney, who was holding a small flower and twirling it around in her fingers. There was a blank look in her eyes and she didn't seem to notice what was going on around her.

"Uh…Sydney?" Vector asked.

She glanced up at them and asked, "Sydney?"

"Yeah, you. We were looking all over for you! What happened?"

"Who's Sydney?"

"Never mind. Just sit down for a while, ok? Tails will get here in a few minuets and find out what's wrong with your memory card…" Vector sighed.

"Ok." Sydney sat down and smiled at the sky. "Look…it's blue."

"Oh man…I hope Tails can fix her memory card!" Charmy said worriedly. "If he can't…we're doomed!"

They waited a bit longer before Tails literally dropped out of the sky next to them, scaring Charmy so bad he forgot that he needed to flap his wings to fly and Espio grabbed two ninja stars from out of nowhere.

"Sorry!" Tails squeaked.

"Next time, just give us warning!" Espio growled.

"Ok!" Tails backed away from them and approached Sydney. "Oh, her memory card wasn't just messed up…it's _gone_!"

"What do you mean?" Vector asked.

"Those earrings she wore? Those were the memory card…well, _cards_. I've never seen them both just fall off…someone did this."

"Any suspects? Anyone that would be jealous about jewelry?" Vector asked.

"Well…Rouge would be, but as far as I know…she's never met Sydney." Tails shrugged.

"Anyone else? Come on, there's got to be someone-"

"And Amy!" Tails shouted. "That's right! Not two days ago she was muttering to herself about how Sydney has 'style' and 'all that'…and she was really interested in the earrings, which both Sydney and I told her a thousand times that those weren't just earrings, they were her memory card!"

"All right, that's a good lead. We'll start with Amy." Espio nodded.

"Sydney, come on!" Charmy said happily.

"Who? Where are you going? Can I come too?" Sydney followed them, occasionally straying off in the wrong direction.

**XxXxXxXx**

Tails knocked on Amy's door and stepped back. Within a few seconds, the door opened and Amy stood in front of them, a confused look on her face. "Can I help you?"

"Amy, I told you…those earrings were Sydney's memory card." Tails motioned to the cyborg lynx, who was currently exclaiming about how nice the world was.

"Whoa…no kidding." Amy almost burst out in laughter. "But what makes you think I did it?"

"Because you're _wearing_ them." Tails growled.

Amy ducked her head in embarrassment. "Sorry, Tails! I couldn't help myself! They really were pretty earrings!" She quickly took them from her ears and handed them back to the fox. "I won't ever do it again!"

"It's ok, Amy. Just next time…listen to me." Tails shrugged and proceeded to reunite Sydney with the memory card.

She blinked a few times and asked, "Where are we and what happened? And who are you?" She turned to Amy

"That's Amy Rose. And I'll explain a bit later." Tails said.

"That ended well." Vector said.

**XxXxXxXx**

"Here. It's all I can spare for the moment, but thanks a ton!" Tails handed Espio a couple of twenties. "There's no telling how much trouble Sydney could have gotten into…thanks for finding her!"

With that, he flew off. Espio walked back inside the Agency and stashed the money in their safe.

That was when the phone rang. Since the others were all in the other room watching the Olympics or something, Espio answered it. "Hello? Chaotix Detective Agency."

"It's me, Luke." Came the voice on the other end. "And I think _I_ found something out."

"What?"

"Scourge survived." Luke said softly, as though afraid of being overheard on his end. "And he's not working alone, as far as I can tell. I don't know if that means anything to you, but it's all I can say."

"Luke, this is really important. Probably the most important thing we've discovered so far. Good job. I have to inform my colleagues about this." Espio hung up and walked into the back room, where the group indeed was watching the Olympics.

"It has been confirmed that Scourge has survived." Espio reported, causing everyone to turn around and stare at him as though he were an alien.

"_What?!_" Vector demanded.

"He's still alive somewhere. And he's not working alone. Something tells me that we need to prepare for another attack."

**XxXxXxXx**

**DUN DUN DUUUUUUN! Suspense! Again! Hurray! **

**Hope you liked it, TheFoxyNerd! **

**Next up is Species Unknown's mystery!**

**Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

**Lordoftheghostking28**

* * *

_IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT__!_

Anyone know who Silver's dad is…? I know it's a weird question…but can anyone answer it?


	4. Chapter 3: Species Unknown's Mystery

** CHAPTER 3: Species Unknown's mystery**

** Once again, no name. Come on, people! I NEED CHAPTER TITLES!**

** Oh, and I have no idea what exacally Station Square is. So in this, it's a train station/market. Just FYI.**

** Ok, other than that, we begin…**

** XxXxXxXx**

"What I don't understand is how Luke knows this stuff." Charmy muttered. "Who told him that Scourge is still alive?"

"I'll have to call him." Vector muttered. "Did anything come in the mail for us today?"

"I don't think so." Espio said, turning towards the door. No letters littered the front mat from the mail slot.

"Well, then…we can watch the Olympics!" Charmy said happily.

The three of them headed back to the TV room, unaware of the light blue envelope that slipped silently into the Agency.

** XxXxXxXx**

"What's it say, Vector? What's it say?"

"Charmy! Shut up!" Vector growled, slipping the letter out of the envelope. He read it over quickly and passed it to Espio, deliberately not saying a word to Charmy.

"Remind me again why I'm stuck with you two." Espio sighed. "All right, Charmy, it says… '_Hello, Chaotix Detective Agency. My name is Fox Downs. An item precious to me— a Timeond— has been stolen. It looks a lot like the white Chaos Emerald, only a bit larger and it radiates its own yellow glow. I doubt you've seen something like this before, but if you have, please inform me of where you've come upon it. I'll stop by the Agency tomorrow morning at ten o'clock sharp.'_"

"A…Timeond?" Vector asked.

"I never knew such a thing existed." Espio said. "Something tells me our next client is going to be surprising."

"Well, we'll have to meet him tomorrow." Vector turned to leave.

"Hurray! More Olympics!" Charmy cheered.

** XxXxXxXx**

Ten O'clock the next morning came quickly. Just as the minute hand struck the twelve, the door opened and a human male walked in, being around the age of 17. He wore a dark T-shirt and sweat pants, with a dark gray and black jacket that wasn't zippered at all. He had black hair and dark brown eyes with specks of bright green lining them.

"Hello. I'm Fox Downs." He said, extending a hand.

Just as Vector was about to greet himself, Charmy butted in and grabbed Fox's hand. "Hi! I'm Charmy! I thought you were going to be a fox!"

Vector facepalmed.

"Surprisingly, you're not the first to make that assumption." Fox said, chuckling.

"These guys are Vector and Espio! Although, Vector's a bit grumpy and Espio's a ninja! So watch out!" Charmy said happily.

"_Charmy!_" Vector growled, taking a mad swipe at the bee. Charmy flew away, singing, "I warned you, Fox!"

"Please ignore him." Vector sighed. "Now…where did you last have this 'Timeond' thing?"

"I was in Station Square," Fox said. "It was in my pocket. I turned because I thought someone was calling my name…and then it was gone. I have no idea who could have taken it or what they could possibly need it for. As far as I know…I'm the only one who can use the power of the Timeond."

"What kind of power?" Espio asked.

"I can control all forms of heat and flame." Fox said. "And possibly much more. I still haven't found the true potential of the Timeond."

"May I ask what you were doing in Station Square?" Espio inquired.

Fox smiled. "I'm glad you asked. As you probably know, I'm not of this dimension. I come from another sometimes called 'Lunar'. Only a handful of my people can use Timeonds, but they seem to be littering our soil. More Timeonds than users."

"So you came here with the power of that thing, right?" Vector asked.

"A newfound skill I found it has. I ended up here quite by accident." Fox shrugged. "I don't know how the thief would use my energy source."

"Is this your only key back?"

"I'm afraid it is."

"We'll try our hardest." Espio promised. "And we'll start at Station Square. If someone that skilled has stolen something like that…I bet that person would spend a fair amount of time there to find victims."

If they had simply glanced at the nearest open window, they would have come one step closer to solving the mystery…

** STATION SQUARE**…

It was packed with many people, bustling back and fourth from destinations. Fox lead them to a small ice cream shop and said, "This is where I estimate I was when I was robbed."

"Maybe the ice cream guy saw something! Or better yet…the ice cream! We'll just have to ask it!" Charmy pulled some money from a pocket and zipped off, returning a second later with an ice cream cone that was bigger than himself.

"The ice cream has spoken!" He declared. "It hasn't seen anything suspicious! For that, you must get eaten!" He gave the ice cream an evil look and started eating it off. "Yum!"

"At least that'll keep him occupied. Come on, let's see what was can find." Espio turned to Fox. "Do you recognize anyone from earlier? Shop owners or conductors that you think might have seen something?"

Fox glanced around the crowded square, shaking his head. "No…unfortunately, I wasn't people-watching."

"We should ask around anyway. Maybe someone saw something you didn't." Vector caught the attention of the ice cream man.

** XxXxXxXx**

** ONE DAY AGO…**

** XxXxXxXx**

Scourge didn't hear or see anything at first. Wherever he was, it was quite and dark. He tried to remember what had happened, but it was all just darkness…and pain. Lots of it. What had happened…? Had he succeeded in destroying the other inferior world…?

It all came crashing back like a huge wave. The battles…the knife…and the rescuer. Scourge tried to sit up, but a bolt of pain shot down the left side of his body, forcing him to lie still. At least he was on something soft…maybe he really had died…?

A door opened and a thin beam of light entered the room. Scourge glanced towards the entryway, squinting and trying to make out the form that had walked in. His eyes hurt almost as bad as his injury.

"Ah, finally. I was beginning to think you'd never wake." The calm, smooth voice said.

"Wh…why wouldn't I?" Scourge managed to choke out.

"Your injuries were more severe than I imagined. It took almost all of my power to heal the worst of it." The voice continued.

"Who are you?" Scourge growled.

The figure chuckled. "You're hardly in a position to be demanding."

"You…you said I knew something you didn't. I'll tell you what you want it know if you tell me your name."

"A fair trade." The voice said, approvingly. "But in order to understand my needs, I have to explain something to you."

"Go on,"

"I watched as you tried to take over that world, Scourge." The figure chuckled. "And I must say, an amateur could have done better. I could help you achieve your goal of domination of not only that world…but _all_ of them. _If_… and only if…you join me."

There was a moment of silence. Scourge nodded, hoping that his rescuer could see him. "When we do rule…how much do you want in return?"

"Only a world. The world that is called Mobius."

Scourge watched as his rescuer pulled a large, gleaming gem from behind his back. It seemed to be radiating its own power from deep within it…not exacally a Chaos Emerald, but something more…possibly even more powerful.

"This is a Timeond." The figure said. "I'm going to use it to send you into a deep slumber. Your injuries will heal in a matter of days, as opposed to a matter of months. When you awaken again, we will begin our plans." He took a few steps into the room.

"Wait…" Scourge said. "Before you use this…_Timeond_…What's your name?"

The figure laughed again. "I have many names. But to you, I am Nazo."

"All right, _Nazo_…What's your question? The one you want in return for your name?"

Nazo only laughed again, colder this time. Scourge had to surpass a shiver from the evil in his voice.

"Where's the Chaotix Detective Agency?"

** STATION SQUARE**…

"We've come up with nothing." Espio admitted, sitting heavily on a bench and staring at the sky, where the last rays of the sun still shone.

"I'm soooo tired!" Charmy cried.

"Let's head back to the Agency. Maybe we'll think of something there." Vector sighed, standing and leading the way.

The walk back was mostly silent, the pause between the four of them broken only once as Fox asked if they could possibly know anyone that would know about Timeonds.

"No. We use Chaos Emeralds here." Vector said. "They must have mistaken it as a precious jewel or something of the sort."

"Like Rouge? Could she have taken it?" Charmy asked.

"That is a possibility. We'll check with her in the morning." Espio said.

They entered the Agency, Vector and Charmy going to speak their thoughts with Fox while Espio sat at the desk and called Luke back. Time for some answers about how he knew so much about Scourge.

Luke answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"All right, Luke. How did you know this? About Scourge's survival? Who told you?"

Luke laughed. But it wasn't his own voice…

"_Luke_?"

"Third drawer." Luke said before the line was cut.

Espio tried to call him back at least twice, both times getting a recorded message about how the number was no longer in service. He finally sat back in the desk chair, a worried and slightly thoughtful look on his face. _Third drawer_…?

He glanced towards the left third drawer on the desk and pulled it open. Nothing but bills that needed to be paid. He turned towards the other drawer and pulled it open.

There, sitting atop a neatly arranged pile of shredded paper, was a large gem that seemed to be radiating its own power.

It had to be nothing but the Timeond. And what really worried Espio was the note attached to it.

_ 'Plenty more where this came from'_.

** XxXxXxXx**

** SUSPENCE! ALREADY! AWESOME!**

** Remember to review! Hope you liked it, Species Unknown!**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28**


	5. Chapter 4: Come and Get Me!

**CHAPTER 4, Come and Get Me!**

**LotsOf1magination's mystery! **

**Keep in mind that the deadline for sending in mysteries is August 11, 2012_!_**

**Sorry, everyone…I forgot to put the thingy at the end of the story saying who'd be next! Well, now you know!**

**And before**_** StarFox **_**sues me or, for that matter, **_**SEGA**_**…I don't own anything. And there just so happens to be OCs named Fox and Wolf. The only thing I sorta have a right to are the OCs so I can write about them, and my OC, GhostKing. **

**Here we go!**

**XxXxXxXx**

Fox had given the three detectives all the money he had with him for finding the Timeond, then vanishing in a flash of light to return to his own world. Vector and Charmy were staring at the nest of shredded papers that had been used to cushion the gem.

"These were all letters from our past clients!" Vector sighed, pulling a handful of the multicoloured shreds out. "What happened here? Who even knew they were in this drawer?"

"We'll just have to find out." came a voice from the stairs. The group turned to see GhostKing at the top of the stairway, her long saber in one hand. The large blue jewel that adorned its hilt caught the light, turning the hallway slightly blue. "I can't stick around, though. I just popped in on this conversation…I gotta go catch a criminal." She smiled and seemingly flew down the rest of the stairs and out the door.

"I wanna catch a criminal too!" Charmy whined.

"Along with this…I tried to call Luke. He actually told me where the Timeond was, but his voice wasn't his. I think something might have happened to him." Espio said.

"Something indeed has happened." Came a sudden voice.

The group turned towards the door, where the Commander of GUN was standing, flanked by two guards. "There was a breakout. Luke's brother, Josh, is one of the missing. The other…well…see for yourself."

Charmy accepted a photograph from the Commander, taking it back to the other detectives. The Mobian in the photo was a dark brown wolf with black stripes on the sides of his face. He had angry brown eyes and medium-length hair that nearly covered his eyes. He was wearing a black jacket and green cargo pants with black shoes. A name was scrawled on the bottom of the photo: _Wolf_.

"That's really the only name he gave us." The Commander said. " 'Wolf' is suspected to be armed and dangerous. He was in one of our top-security prisons for assassination, bank robberies, murders, kidnapping, and a shootout not too long ago. We simply can't have someone like this roaming the streets."

"Why did you come to us?" Vector asked.

"Because many of my men have suffered losses by this criminal. They refused to accompany me to find him. Besides…I think a few fellow Mobians be a bit more under his radar."

"I guess we _are_ going to catch a criminal…" Charmy muttered.

"How much are you willing to pay?" Vector continued.

"Ten-thousand," The Commander didn't even blink.

"We'll take the case."

"Do you know what could have happened with Josh? Luke is missing too, as far as we know." Espio spoke up.

"No. But if you try to catch Wolf's trail; we'll do all we can to locate the two of them." The Commander motioned for the guards. "Wolf was last seen on the outskirts of the town."

They left just as quickly as they had come.

"He said armed and dangerous, right?" Charmy asked.

"We'd better get some stuff…" Vector sprang up from behind the desk to gather some items, muttering the entire time, "Ten-_thousand _dollars!"

**THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE CITY**…

Wolf didn't stop running until he came to the edge of a small forest. Without thinking, he plunged into it, feeling branches and twigs snag his fur. He leapt over a few logs and rocks, hardly disturbing the calm forest. He clenched two pistols in his hands, but he doubted he needed them.

Only when the ground begin to get soft and squishy beneath his feet did he finally come to a fast walk. He finally had neared his destination, judging by the sound of a spring nearby.

The water level had gone up a bit since his last visit to this place, but she was still where she always sat when she was upset. On a large rock, staring into the water. Her back was to him.

"Sydney…" Wolf started.

The cyborg lynx turned around quickly, nearly falling in the water as she did so. A look of complete horror and shock was on her face. "…_Wolf?!_"

He shrugged. "Who else?"

"How did you…what…what happened? How did you get out?" Sydney hadn't moved from the rock.

"Breakout. Quite easy, too. Don't worry, no one was hurt." Wolf dropped the two pistols he was holding. "I haven't seen you in a while. What's been going on around here?"

Sydney didn't speak. She just sighed, turning back to face the water. "You shouldn't be here. They were right to lock you away."

**XxXxXxXx**

The three detectives were standing outside of a forest, not exacally sure of where to begin the hunt for the escapee. Espio had a bag full of a random assortment of weapons and M&Ms, because Charmy absolutely _insisted_ on bringing them.

"Tell me again why it was necessary to bring a packet of chocolate." Vector growled.

"We could get hungry!" Charmy said innocently.

Espio just walked towards the forest. "Spread out. See what we can find. Meet back here in an hour."

The group was beginning to go their separate ways when a loud shout echoed from the forest. Vector pointed in the general direction of the cry and ran into the trees, the other two detectives quickly following.

"I wonder who that was?" Charmy asked out loud, following the others.

"We'll find out soon enough!" Espio leapt over a log and grabbed a ninja star from the bag he was carrying at the same time. The ground began to get softer under their feet, as though a water source were nearby. Vector pointed to a trail of footprints still pressed into the ground and they quickly followed them.

They stumbled into a small clearing occupied by a fast-moving spring. Standing slightly to the side of a large rock was someone they least expected to see.

"Sydney?" Charmy asked.

"I-" She began, but was cut off as a strong fist closed around her throat. Someone that could only be Wolf stepped into view, a pistol in his other hand.

"Who are you?" He demanded.

"Let her go!" Espio dropped the bag and got into a fighting stance, ninja stars at the ready.

"Wolf…" Sydney gasped.

Wolf released some of the pressure he was putting on her windpipe, but his other hand holding the gun didn't waver. "Who are you and what do you want?" He demanded again.

"We're the Chaotix Detective Agency!" Charmy squeaked. "Don't kill Sydney!"

"What do you want?" Wolf hissed.

"We want you to release her!" Espio threw one of the stars, missing Wolf's ear by inches and taking a small chunk of fur off the side of his head. Wolf backed up in surprise, Sydney taking advantage of his hesitation and biting down hard on his arm. He let her go, stumbling backwards into the spring.

"Don't move." Sydney said, the pistol that had been recently clenched in his fist aiming at his head. "I'm sorry, Wolf…"

"How did you escape GUN?" Vector demanded.

"So you're working for them? I should have known! Sydney! Did you lead them to me?" Wolf growled.

"Answer his question." The lynx hissed.

"A breakout." Wolf muttered. "But I didn't cause it. I couldn't have. All I saw of my rescuer was he was a hedgehog, no doubt about that. A black hedgehog."

The three detectives simply stood, at a loss of words.

"Oh, you know this person?" Wolf asked. "Unfortunately, I have no idea where he is at the moment. Same goes for the others he rescued. It was just me, another inmate, and a group of potentially dangerous criminals…no one else."

"Where did the other inmates go?" Espio asked.

"No idea." Wolf grinned.

"Wolf," Sydney said firmly. "You shouldn't be out here. You belong behind bars for what you've done to those innocents. Why you were released is beyond me, but you need to go back."

"I had to!" Wolf growled. "I had to kill some of them! They were after you! Sydney, I did most of that for you!"

"The killings? The shootouts? The robberies? The kidnappings? For _me_?" Sydney hissed.

"To keep you safe." Wolf muttered almost inaudibly.

"Do you know what you could do for me?" Sydney asked.

"What?"

"Turn yourself in."

The only sound was the river as it continued down its path. Wolf sighed heavily, still staring down the barrel of the gun Sydney had aimed at his face. He stood, sopping wet from the water, and walked over to dry land. "Fine." He said. "I will. For you."

There was a tremendous _BANG_ and flash of fire. Sydney jumped and turned the gun she was holding on an unsuspecting Fox Downs, who stumbled backwards in surprise. "Whoa! Hey! Don't shoot!"

"Fox?" Vector asked. "What are you doing here?"

"The Timeonds…remember how I said that thousands of them were on my planet?" Fox gasped. His hair was slightly smoldering. "Well…they're gone! At least eighty percent of what I remember is gone!"

"Aren't people from your planet the only ones that could use its power?" Espio asked.

"Yeah…I don't know who could have done this!"

"Keep us informed. I'm afraid we can't go off to your planet at the moment." Vector said, turning his attention back to Wolf and Sydney.

"Oh…right. See ya…" Fox lifted the Timeond into the air and shouted a very foreign sounding word before vanishing in another enormous _BANG_ and flash of fire.

**XxXxXxXx**

Sydney only watched as Wolf was dragged away by GUN guards. She then turned and left completely, not turning back once. That left the three detectives and the GUN Commander.

"I appreciate what you've done." He said, handing Vector a small case that was more than likely keeping their pay safe.

"…How did they really escape?" Espio asked.

"That's classified. You wouldn't believe me if I told you." The Commander began to walk away.

"Was it Shadow?" Vector asked.

The Commander stopped and turned again, a mixture of slight fear and puzzlement on his face. "Yes…how do you know? Wolf?"

Charmy nodded. "He said that a black hedgehog broke him out of there along with a group of other dangerous people. Were…were these people associated with the attack by Scourge?"

The Commander nodded. "All I can tell you is that Shadow is being held in a top-security cell. He apparently doesn't remember anything."

With that, he turned and left.

**XxXxXxXx**

"What is going on?" Vector wondered out loud a bit later. They were back at the Agency, pondering everything that had happened during the past few hours.

"I strongly believe that the Timeonds going missing along with the breakouts are connected." Espio said.

"Yeah, but by who?" Charmy said.

"And Scourge was terribly wounded…there's no way he could make a comeback like this already, right?" Vector asked.

"I have no idea." Espio muttered.

GhostKing entered the Agency, her sword in hand. She looked rather tired and slightly beat up, as though she had another fight. "Hi, guys. Don't mind me…"

"Is it physically possible for someone mortally wounded to come back in a matter of days and re-take over the world?" Charmy asked.

"Uh…no…" GhostKing said.

"Oh, ok."

Their boss went upstairs while they continued basically voicing their thoughts. They never caught on to anything before something fell through the mail slot.

"I GOT IT!" Charmy zipped over and ripped it open. "It's another mystery!"

He pulled open the door, but the deliverer of the letter was nowhere in sight.

**XxXxXxXx**

**SUSPENCE! AGAIN! Hurray!**

**Hope you liked, LotsOf1magination! Although...the ending seemed a bit too rushed for me...I hope you liked it anyway.**

**Next up is psychicshipping's mystery!**

**Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

**Lordoftheghostking28**


	6. Chapter5:It's Raining Pencils and Apples

**CHAPTER 5: It's Raining Pencils and Apples**

_**THE TIME TO SEND IN MYSTERIES IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED. THANK YOUS TO EVERYONE WHO SENT IN STUFF.**_

**YEY A TITLE NAME! Thanks, psychicshipping and fishypetpet!**

**Yes, I combined two entries. Yes, it's awesome. And yes, both your OCs have their individual time to shine.**

**EVERYONE ELSE, SEND IN TITLE NAMES SO I CAN CHANGE THINGS!**

**XxXxXxXx**

_'__Dear Team Chaotix;_

_Whenever I drop a writing utensil— be it a pen, pencil, chalk or something else— and go to pick it up, it falls on top of me, more often than not hitting me directly on my head. I know it sounds crazy, how could something that was supposed to be on the floor suddenly end up above me? Believe me… if I knew the answer I wouldn't be asking you for help. This has been happening for several years and you came to me highly recommend by a friend with experience with weird stuff. _

_Thank you in advance, Connor._

_PS: Meet me at Station Square tomorrow at 11:00 AM nearby the ice cream shop._'

"Once again with the overload of mysteries…" Espio muttered, reading over the letter.

"This is sort of weird! I wonder what kind of awesome power this guy has!" Charmy said.

"Well, we'll find out at eleven in the morning tomorrow." Vector said, stashing the letter in a drawer.

**XxXxXxXx**

The three detectives were standing nearby the shop, Charmy eating away another huge ice cream cone while the two others gave him disgusted looks.

"Do you _have_ to do that?" Vector sighed.

"What? This?" Charmy smeared ice cream around his face.

Just as Vector was about to pound the bee into the ground, a timid voice asked, "Uh…are you the Chaotix Detectives?"

They turned to see a raccoon in a midnight blue sweatshirt and cap, along with dark boots. He sort of stared at them for a second longer before saying, "I'm Connor…"

"We received your letter last night," Espio nodded. "And we would like to see this...odd talent."

"I'd hardly call it that." Connor shrugged. "It's mostly just annoying, but I can't seem to do it with any other objects."

"We'll head back to the Agency. We can talk there." Vector said.

They began walking back towards their headquarters, Connor sort of staring down at his shoes as they went. "I've always wondered if I could use this…odd teleportation technique to send other objects around the place. But nothing ever happened. I'm actually sort of scared."

"Of what?" Charmy asked, ice cream still all over his face as he finished off the cone.

"Of just…accidentally hurting someone." Connor shrugged again. "I don't know…I just don't want something like that on my mind."

**XxXxXxXx**

Espio pushed open the door and they entered into the agency. Connor went over to the front desk and picked up a pencil, throwing it to the ground. "Watch."

As he bent down to pick it up, it vanished from the ground and hit him in the back of the head. He retrieved the pencil and stood, a sort of worried look on his face. "That's usually what happens."

"Do you ever think about anything when you go to pick them up? Maybe you somehow use that thought to teleport the pencil?" Vector guessed.

"I don't know. I just think to myself, 'I need to pick that up'. And when I go to do that, it's suddenly hitting me on the back of the head." Connor dropped the pencil again and went to reach for it, the same effect happening.

"And this works with any writing utensil?" Espio inquired.

"Yeah. Even paintbrushes."

"I'm guessing you're creative?"

"You should see my house." Connor smiled. "Paintings and books everywhere. I love writing and drawing, and I think this power has something to do with it."

"I'd be surprised if it wasn't associated with it."

"Same." Connor said, tucking the pencil behind an ear. He glanced at the clock. "Is it that time already? I have to go…I'll come back in the morning."

**3 HOURS LATER**…

"VECTOR! YOU'RE NOT GONNA BELIEVE THIS!" Charmy screamed, flying out from the main desk and into the TV room in the back.

"What?! What's wrong?" Vector sprang up.

"YOU'RE NOT GONNA BELIEVE TH-"

"_WHAT IS IT?_"

"This," Charmy held up an envelope.

Vector tore it out of the bee's grasp and began to read. "Looks like we have two mysteries to solve in a short amount of time," He remarked. "Might as well get one started on while we ponder the other. We're heading to the Museum of Westopolis."

**XxXxXxXx**

The museum manager was standing at the door to the place, a worried look on her catlike face. She was a black panther with purple stripes wearing a dark blue T-shirt and navy jeans. "Are you the detectives?" She asked.

"That's us."

"I'm Ink." She said. "This way…"

She lead them into the door and down a hall that was marked with 'CRIME SCENE-DO NOT CROSS' tape. They entered into a room that was displaying a vast array of valuables from all over the world. In the center of the room a case was smashed, glass shards everywhere.

"This was where the Apple of Eris was." Ink said. "It's our most precious displayed item…and until recently…thought impossible to steal."

Vector drew a magnifying glass from the pack he had brought, examining some of the glass shards. "Whoever this was…they're an expert."

"Was it Rouge?" Charmy asked.

"I don't think so." Espio picked up something from the floor and held it up for the others to see. "Rouge's fur is completely white. This is slightly gray."

"Do you have any clues?" Vector asked Ink.

"We managed to catch something on the security cameras. But it's just a second of footage. I could show it to you anyway, if you'd like." Ink pointed towards a back room.

The three detectives followed her to the back room, where she motioned towards a computer. "Here it is."

The three watched as…absolutely nothing happened. It remained that way for a few seconds before a figure darted into the room, shattered the glass, and stole a large golden apple from the case. The cameras went dead and the image was cut.

"Rewind and pause." Vector said.

Ink rewound it and paused it just before the camera would have gone out. The thief standing on-screen had to be a hedgehog judging by the quills that stuck up messily. He also seemed oddly familiar…

"That's…that's…" Charmy gasped.

"No way." Espio squinted.

"It's…Silver!" Charmy squeaked, horrified. "Why would he do something like this?"

"Excuse us, Ink. We'll be right back, possibly with the Apple." Vector stood and rushed for the door, the other two detectives behind him.

"Oh…ok…" Ink muttered.

Just as they were going to run though the doors, they burst open and the group almost trampled Connor as he entered. "WHOA!"

"What are you doing here?" Vector demanded.

"Well, I decided to come back and try to unravel my mystery some more, but you weren't at the agency! So GhostKing told me where you were, so I came here!" Connor said. "What's the rush?"

"If you tag along, just keep up!" Vector growled.

**XxXxXxXx**

Espio knocked sharply on Silver's door. "Silver, open up! The Chaotix Detective Agency needs to speak with you!"

"What's going on?" Connor asked.

"We think he stole something." Charmy explained. "But that doesn't make any sense! Silver would never do anything like that!"

"Silver! Open this door! _Now_!" Espio shouted.

The door was opened and Silver stood in the doorframe, a blank look in his eyes. He blinked twice and then cast the group an odd glance. "Uh…can I help you?"

"We need to talk to you." Espio said. "About the museum and an artifact called the Apple of Eris."

"The what-a-what-what?" Silver asked.

"Oh, and we need to search your house." Charmy said gleefully.

"_What?_"

**XxXxXxXx**

"Earlier today the museum down in Westopolis was broken into. All evidence points to you. How do you explain this, and where were you earlier today?" Vector demanded.

"I wasn't anywhere near Westopolis!" Silver protested. "And…" He trailed off.

"What?"

"…I don't remember. All this morning was a blur. I can't remember time passing so quickly…"

"Did you leave your house today?" Vector continued.

"No, I don't think so."

Espio, Connor and Charmy came back into the room. "No sign of a golden apple." Espio reported.

"We are more than certain it was you on the security tapes." Vector said. "But I guess we were wrong…"

The pencil that was behind Connor's ear fell to the floor. While he stooped to get it, it teleported itself above his head and hit him on the neck again. He grabbed it, muttering curses, and stuck it back behind his ear. "It seems a lot of things aren't what they appear to be lately." He muttered.

"Yeah, like the deal with Shadow and setting all those guys free at GUN." Charmy said.

"What?!" Silver gasped.

"Didn't you hear? He broke into the place and set a lot of people free!"

Silence covered the room for a while. Charmy flew off to raid Silver's kitchen and the others stood around awkwardly. "Were…the people who were set free…were they the ones we put in jail a while ago?" Silver asked.

"We don't know. But I guarantee that GUN's working to find them." Espio said.

"HEY GUYS!" Charmy shouted, flying back into the room and nearly knocking Connor off his feet. "YOU'RE NOT GONNA BELIEVE WHAT I FOUND!"

"What, more M&M's?" Vector growled.

"COME HERE!" Charmy flew back into the kitchen, the others following. Espio couldn't help but notice that Silver had a terrified look on his face…

"Look, you guys! Silver _did_ steal the Apple of Eris!" Charmy flung open the refrigerator door and pointed to a group of apples. One was indeed not edible, but made of pure gold and catching the light in the room brilliantly. Charmy zipped forward to get it.

"_NO_!" Silver shouted, snatching the apple before Charmy even got close to it. "Don't touch it!"

"Why not?" Vector asked. "You did steal it, and it's our job to deliver this back to the museum."

"Because…" Silver trailed off, staring at the solid gold treasure. His eyes unfocused and glazed over. "Because…"

"Uh…Silver?" Espio asked, reaching out to take the apple.

Silver's fist connected solidly with his stomach, knocking Espio backward a few feet into Connor. Silver smiled slightly, but it wasn't humorous in the slightest. "You can't take it… Because it's the key," He growled. Something was odd about his voice…it was slightly deeper and a lot smoother…

"Silver, drop it!" Vector lunged at him, drawing backwards to deal a strong punch.

He dodged to the side and countered with his own power, picking up Vector and flinging him to the side by hardly blinking. Espio had vanished into thin air and Charmy was hiding in a cupboard. That left Connor, who was left standing frozen to the spot.

"It's the key to what, exacally?" he tried stalling.

"The key to the universe." Silver grinned madly, turning and ducking as a ninja star flew out of nowhere, imbedding itself in the wall. Espio began to fight Silver, still invisible, but he was able to counter every blow.

Vector lunged again, managing to knock Silver off his feet. The Apple of Eris rolled into a corner, almost at the feet of Connor. He bent to pick it up.

It vanished. Connor gritted his teeth and waited for it to come down on his neck like the pencils had, but nothing came. He slowly stood, looking around in amazement. It had vanished.

"No!" Silver growled. "I won't be stopped this easily! Mark my words…this is only the beginning!" He tried to stand, but his left knee gave out. He collapsed onto the tile floor and didn't get back up.

"Silver?" Espio nudged him with his foot. "Silver!"

"What was that about?" Charmy asked, horrified. "He…he was like a totally different person! As soon as he touched the apple…"

"Speaking of which, where is it?" Vector asked.

"I bent down to pick it up…" Connor muttered. "And it vanished. It didn't come out of the sky to hit me in the head."

"What are we going to do with Silver?" Charmy continued. "I mean…wasn't Shadow acting weird too? Do you think something like this took him over?"

Espio and Vector exchanged glances. "I don't know…it could be a possibility."

"So we don't have to arrest him?"

"I don't think so." Vector retrieved Silver from the floor and carried him into the other room, putting him on the couch. "although we will have to speak to him about this whole thing later."

"Oh, good!" Charmy said. "So…now what?"

"We have to go and tell Ink that the Apple of Eris was mysteriously teleported somewhere because Connor tried to pick it up." Espio said matter-of-factly.

Connor just glared.

**XxXxXxXx**

As they approached the museum's doors, they were thrown open as Ink came running out.

"Thank you so much!"

"…For what, exactly?" Espio asked.

"For finding the Apple of Eris!" Ink said. "I can't believe you've found it!"

"…We did?" Vector asked, dumbfounded.

"What, are you kidding me?" Ink facepalmed. She lead them inside the building towards the crime scene. The golden apple was resting among the broken glass, back where it originally was.

"I guess we did." Charmy shrugged.

"Here, take this. It's the least I can offer." Ink handed them a check made out of five hundred dollars.

"Whoop! More money!" Charmy said gleefully.

"And along with finding the Apple of Eris, I believe I know what your powers allow you to do, Connor." Espio said.

"Really? What?" the raccoon asked.

"You always seem to have a pencil behind your ear, right? And when you go to pick up a writing utensil, it always hits you in the back of the head. I believe it's because that's where you always keep them, tucked behind an ear until you can make use of it. Or, in simpler terms…where you believe it should be. You might have slight traces of psychic power-"

"I'm sorry…I'm kind of lost." Connor muttered.

"You might have beginnings of psychic power to teleport things where they are more commonly found or belong." Espio sighed. "So when you went to retrieve the Apple of Eris, it teleported itself back to the museum, where it belongs."

"Oh! Cool!" Connor grinned. "So…I can use this power on other stuff, too?"

"It seems so."

"This is awesome! Oh…before I forget…" He handed them a twenty dollar bill. "It's all I can spare. Thank you so much for your help!"

**XxXxXxXx**

**Thus it's the end.**

**Two mystery ideas combined into one! Mostly because I just couldn't seem to write a full mystery for either idea, so I combined them to make it awesome! And what's going on with Silver…? I guess we'll just have to find out…**

**I hope you liked it, psychicshipping and fishypetpet!**

**Next up is Phantomask's mystery, along with a few ideas(cough, cough, MAJOR IDEAS, cough, cough) from TatlTails and ideas from (Cough, cough, MINOR BUT IMPORTANT IDEAS, cough, cough) BrownPaperBear!**

**Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

**Lordoftheghostking28**


	7. Chapter 6: Sunny Days are Gone

** CHAPTER 6: Sunny Days are Gone**

** Phantomask's mystery!...with a few ideas from TatlTails and BrownPaperBear too!**

** XxXxXxXx**

"It's…odd. I can't quite explain it." Silver muttered, staring down at the floor.

"Well, do the best you can." Espio said.

They were back at Silver's house, trying to figure out why he had…_changed_…when he came into contact with the Apple of Eris, a stolen artifact they had recovered. Vector had contacted the museum that housed the Apple, warning them to not touch the item directly.

"It was as if…someone was pushing me out of my own mind." Silver nodded. "Yeah…that's how I'd describe it. Someone trying to take me over."

"Your voice changed." Charmy said. "You were a lot scarier too! It was as though you didn't recognize us."

"I couldn't see anything after I touched the Apple. But I could hear everything…that voice definitely wasn't mine. I don't know who it could belong to either." He glanced up. "Are you going to arrest me?"

"No." Vector said. "But I am placing you under house arrest…"

"Can you even do that?" Charmy wondered.

"Yes, I can. Shut up. Anyway, you're not to leave this house for a week. Just to make sure that the curse or whatever happened doesn't happen again."

"Seems fair." Silver muttered.

"We'll call occasionally." Vector stood and headed for the door. "Come on, guys."

** XxXxXxXx**

They were in for another frustrating afternoon. Partly because they still had no idea who could have stolen thousands upon thousands of Timeonds and partly because they were worried about the past villains on the loose again.

GhostKing came down from her office after a while, her saber in a sheathe at her side. "So…what's up? No mystery today?"

"Nothing." Charmy said from the ceiling fan blade he was lying on. "Nothing at all. But at least we're rich."

"I'd rather have a mystery than be rich." Espio sighed.

"Hey, why are you carrying around a sword all the time?" Vector asked.

"Protection. I'm kind of paranoid now after my last case." GhostKing gripped the sword handle.

"Why? What happened?" Charmy asked.

"Let's just say you're not the only one scared of robots, fire, animatronic stuff and clowns."

Charmy shuddered. "I'm glad I'm not you…"

GhostKing went off to the kitchen. "I'm going to make spaghetti. It's the only thing I can make without killing someone."

The other three detectives went back to being bored. So when the door opened they were taken a bit by surprise.

"I need your help." A completely blonde hedgehog with sea foam green eyes said. Her hair was bleach blonde and went to her mid back. She wore fancy clothing, as though she were rich. She smiled sheepishly and handed Vector some photographs. "I'm being stalked."

"What are these?" Vector asked, flipping through the photos. Each one showed a front door step, with various items on them.

"Every Friday…I would get something. At first it was just roses, like these." The hedgehog pointed to the first few photos, which were filled with different coloured roses. "And then this came."

Vector hid the pictures from Charmy, who flew over. "I wanna see, Vector!" He whined.

"Here. Look at the pretty flowers." Vector gave him the ones with the roses in them.

Now occupied, the others returned to the much less pretty and more gory ones. The next picture was of a dead bird, dried blood staining its brightly coloured belly. "This came three weeks ago." The hedgehog continued. "And then this one…two weeks ago."

A dead stray cat had been delivered to the front doorstep, its neck obviously broken.

"The last one is the most disturbing." The hedgehog said. "I nearly screamed when I saw it."

A severed hand was gripping the welcome mat, dried blood matting the wrist.

"And it came with this." The hedgehog held up a small note, written hastily, '_You will be mine._'

"We'll take the case." Vector nodded, reviewing the photos. "What's your name?"

"I'm Summer the Hedgehog. I work at Vague Modeling."

"Any suspects? Anyone that would do something like this?"

"Well…I know a lot of people who would leave me flowers…but the dead stuff…" Summer trailed off.

"Any names pop into your head when you first saw the flowers?" Espio asked.

"Well…the majority of the flowers in those pictures were purple…that's my favourite colour. Only my parents and my ex-boyfriend, Jack, know this. At least…I think they're the only ones." Summer shrugged.

"How did you break up with Jack, if you don't mind me asking?" Vector asked.

"He…well…he was…sort of demanding." Summer sighed. "I left him over dinner. It's been sort of hard on both of us, and I can imagine him trying to win me back. But like this…It's madness. I doubt he's the one doing this."

"Still, he's a good suspect. Anyone else?"

"Some of my workers." Summer admitted. "They think that I'm being cheap on their paychecks. The place is still open…we might be able to catch them and ask them a few questions before they leave."

** XxXxXxXx**

"Bella! Marco!" Summer shouted.

A few seconds later a rabbit that couldn't have been more than sixteen hopped over, quickly followed by a hedgehog that had to be around that age too. The rabbit was pure white with mocha-coloured eyes and hazel hair that slightly covered her left eyes. She was wearing a 'in the now' styled shirt and jeans. The hedgehog was crimson red with blue eyes, wearing a designer jacket and shoes.

"Yeah?" Bella asked. "Are you new customers? Can I show you around?"

"We're actually here to ask you a few questions." Espio said. "Summer's been receiving weird things on her front porch lately. Do you have anything to do with it?"

"I don't even know where she lives." Bella admitted, shrugging.

"Same." Marco said.

"So you don't know anything about this?" Vector handed them the photographs.

Bella's eyes grew wide as she flipped through the photos, finally throwing them at Marco, screaming, "EWWW! THAT'S SICK!"

"Who in their right mind would do this?" Marco gaped as Bella tore at her fur, muttering, "That is _nasty_…"

"That's what we're trying to find out." Espio retrieved the photos again, certain that these two had nothing to do with it.

"Right…Are you _sure_ you don't need help looking around?" Bella asked. "I mean…you guys really need-"

Summer began to push Bella away. "Ok, thanks! Get back to work!"

"_What_?! One thousand dollars…for a _hat_?!" Charmy gaped at a price tag.

"It's made of silk coated in gold!" Bella sighed. "A very reasonable price, if you ask me."

"I'd gladly pay that much ten times over for you." Marco told her sheepishly.

"Oh, shut up." Bella facepalmed.

Summer, Charmy, Vector and Espio were left in the middle of the place. "So, anyone else you think could be a suspect?" Vector asked.

"There's still Jack." Summer shrugged. "But to tell you the truth…I have no idea where he is."

"Don't you have a phone number or anything?"

"I do, but it's in the back." Summer lead them back to her office, where a simple desk sat, covered in different designer rings and such. She picked up an old-fashioned looking phone and dialed a number off a slip of paper nearby.

"This is pretty." Charmy said, picking up a ring covered in strange designs.

"Put it back." Espio growled.

Charmy reluctantly put it back down and continued staring at the vast array of shiny objects. Summer hung up the phone after a few more seconds and said, "The number's disconnected."

"Where did you get this ring?" Charmy asked, pointing to the strange piece of jewelry.

"We found it." Summer said. "Someone must have left it or something…because it just appeared on our shelves. We waited for someone to come claim it, but they never did."

"It looks kinda like the ring from _Lord of the Rings_! Maybe it says creepy stuff in the tongue of Orcs too!"

"Somehow, I doubt it." Summer smiled.

** THAT THURSDAY**…

"I found Jack." Summer reported, walking into the agency.

"Oh, really? Where is he?" Vector asked.

"Over near Emerald Town. I got his number and called him up; told him about the strange stuff I was getting. He sounded truly surprised…he was never good at hiding emotions."

"And there isn't anyone else you know of that would do something like this?" Espio asked.

"No one." Summer shook her head.

"We'll call you tomorrow and try to figure out what to do next." Vector suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Summer exited the agency and made her way down the streets. But before she got very far, someone stopped her.

"You will be mine."

_Jack!_ That was the last thing that came across Summer's mind.

** XxXxXxXx**

Vector could only stare in disbelief at the note nailed to the agency door: '_Come to the pier with the ring in 5 days or you'll never see Summer again._'

"Do you think it's the ring that we were talking about earlier?" Espio asked.

"It has to be." Vector nodded.

"Why would the kidnapper want that?"

"I don't know. But it's obviously important."

"What should we do?"

Vector sighed. "Get the ring, of course. We can't risk Summer's life for a piece of metal."

** 5 DAYS LATER AT THE MAIN PIER**…

One of the boathouses was empty, the door wide open. Vector and Charmy walked into it, searching quickly for any signs of life. The door behind them shut loudly, plunging the room in near darkness.

"So I see you didn't want to risk her precious life." Came a voice from a loft.

They turned to see a brown hedgehog standing nearby the ladder to the loft. He had one arm around Summer's neck, holding her close. In his other hand he held a long knife.

"Throw the ring up here." He commanded.

"Sure thing, _Jack_." Vector took the ring from Charmy and tossed it up. The hedgehog snickered. "Who else?" He bent down and took the ring in his hand, examining it from every angle before nodding.

"Thank you for your business." He threw Summer down the ladder. Vector managed to catch her before she would have hit the stone floor.

"Not so fast!" Charmy said loudly. "You're not getting away!"

"Yeah? Try and stop me." Jack turned to leap out a window, but something knocked him backwards and off the loft. He hit the ground and scrambled up, ready to attack. The knife he was holding caught the dim light dangerously. "Where are you? Show yourself!"

His legs suddenly gave out and he sprawled on the floor. Espio became visible nearby, two ninja stars clenched in his hands. "Give up now and I won't be forced to wound you."

Jack began to laugh. "D you honestly think you're the only one with a backup plan? I had this planned from the beginning!" he stood up slowly and snapped his fingers.

A huge wave of water struck the side of the boathouse, blowing out a window and flooding the small area. Another wave crashed into the other side, breaking the door down and sending water hurtling towards the detectives and their client. Jack simply seemed to walk through the waves as though they were nothing more than gusts of wind.

Before he left, he tossed the knife back at them. "My boss wants you to have something!"

In another wave, he was gone. The boathouse began to drain out, the four trapped inside beginning to finally draw breath again. "That was scary!" Charmy wailed.

Espio retrieved his ninja stars and approached the knife that Jack had thrown to them.

"Summer, did that ring have any known value? Anything at all?" he asked.

"No…not that I know of. I knew that Jack could control water…but nothing like that." Summer brushed wet hair out of her eyes. "Why?"

"Because I think it meant the world to Jack." Espio retrieved the knife, holding it up for the others to see. "This is one of the many knives Scourge had."

** XxXxXxXx**

** Thank you to Phantomask for the main outline of the story, TatlTails for the epic ending, and BrownPaperBear for the two shop workers. **

** AND THUS IT OFFICIALLY BEGINS! The epic 'oh-crap-what's-going-to-happen-next' feeling! IT'S AWESOME!**

** Next up is Theanimorpherz's mystery, accompanied by Gnat1's mystery in a two-parted awesomeness fest!**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28**


	8. Chapter 7: Rift Pt 1: Who's His Father?

** CHAPTER 7: Time-Space Rift Pt. 1: Who's his Father?**

** You won't BELIEVE how much trouble the Chaos-darned 'Chapter Name' thingy gave me.**

** Oh, and TatlTails…I had no idea that's what the ring was. 0_o So…I sort of made up its value and what it does as I went along. I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. **

** Theanimorpherz's and Gnat's mystery, combined in part 1 and 2!**

** Ok, past people who sent stuff in…your OCs will be mentioned randomly throughout the series. You may even pop in for a brief visit. It depends on the situation. Anyway, here begins the story.**

** Oh, remember the question I needed answering…? Well, your efforts pay off here.**

Summer had paid them graciously, afterwards returning back to her workplace. The three detectives went back to the agency, pondering what had just happened.

"This is really scary," Charmy said. "I mean, that could be the One Ring! Just like in _Lord of the Rings_! And that movie was scary!"

"What are you talking about? That stuff isn't real!" Vector growled.

"That's what _you_ think…" Charmy muttered, flying around in circles.

The group didn't have much time to themselves before the door was opened and a ebony and crimson wolf with glowing yellow eyes with crimson iris's, bushy striped tail and floppy ears walked in. She glanced at the group before saying, "I would like your help. I know you're detectives, not time-travelers, but you're sort of needed to do both."

"What do you mean?" Espio asked.

"Well, my friend's kind of depressed. He's never really known his parents, and he's been under a lot of pressure lately. I want to do him a favor and find his parents. But…we'd have to go back in time to do that." The wolf said. "Oh, I'm Silhouette, by the way."

"What's his name?" Vector asked.

"Silver. Silver the Hedgehog." Silhouette said. "And apparently he's under 'house arrest'."

The three detectives exchanged glances. "Oops," Charmy muttered.

"We know Silver." Espio nodded. "And we'll help you. Although you will have to provide the time-traveling equipment."

"Don't worry. I've got that covered." Silhouette said.

The group quickly made their way to Silver's, along the way getting to know each other a bit more.

"Hi! I'm Charmy! I like Nutella!" Charmy said.

"Oh, really?" Silhouette smiled. "I ate that stuff for breakfast today!"

The two of them started a conversation, mostly involving breakfast foods and stuff about owning a heated, indoor pool for some reason. Vector was about ready to shout for the hyper, annoying bee to stop annoying their client when they finally reached Silver's place.

After the third knock, he opened the door, a bit surprised to see the three detectives out of all people. "Uh…am I still under house arrest?"

Silhouette cast the three a questioning look.

"Uh…not for now." Vector muttered. "Your friend here wants to do you a favor. I'll let her explain."

Silhouette wasted no time in explaining what she planned to do. Silver seemed to brighten at this idea, rushing back further into the house to retrieve a Chaos Emerald. "I have this! We can use this!"

"We were planning to, anyway." Silhouette said. "All right…what year do you think would be accurate?"

"Well…" Silver thought for a few seconds. "I don't even remember my parents. As far as I know, they were killed by Iblis."

"Oh, I forgot about that…" Silhouette sighed. "I was lucky enough to escape most of Iblis' rage…don't know about you guys, though…"

"We were sort of living outside of a city through most of that." Vector said.

"Oh, I got it!" Silver said. "I remember Blaze telling me that she saw my dad once…if we go back about ten years we should find him!"

"Well, you're the only one who can Chaos Control…" Silhouette said. "Come on! This is going to be awesome!"

Silver lifted the Chaos Emerald into the air and said in a voice that was overflowing with excitement, "Chaos Control!"

** XxXxXxXx**

They appeared on the top of a tall building overlooking the destruction. Fires ate away at anything they could, leveling the already mostly-destroyed city. Silver glanced around and pointed to another rooftop nearby. "I know where we are! Come on!" He grabbed Silhouette's hand and levitated both himself and her over. Charmy flew both Espio and Vector over.

This continued for a while until they reached a patch of land. It was fire damaged, without a single growing thing in sight, but it was still solid ground. Silver ran along a small worn path in the dirt, coming to a forest of trees that were nothing more than burned toothpicks. But nestled among some of the taller burned trees was what appeared to be a large tent.

"That's basically my home." Silver explained. "Back when I was younger. I shared it with Blaze and a few other kids…I don't know what happened one day, but they never came back after exploring. We assumed they were dead…"

"Duck!" Charmy whispered loudly, diving behind a charred rock.

The group hid, just in time to see some tiny and malnourished kids come scurrying up the path. There was a purple bat, a nervous looking ferret, and then two kids that just had to be mini versions of Silver and Blaze. All four of them were holding bags that were probably stuffed with stolen supplies.

"The bat is Veronica. The ferret is Alex." Silver said.

The group watched as the four kids quickly hid inside the tent. Loud whispers rose occasionally, silenced by a harsh, "_Shhhhh_!"

"If I remember correctly…this was the day that Blaze saw someone following us." Silver said. "That's why we came back to the tent so quickly. Later that night—or rather, _tonight_—we found supplies and food nearby the tent's door. Blaze got it into her head that my dad had left this. I don't know why she assumed that…but she wouldn't let it drop."

"So we've just got to wait until that guy shows up?" Silhouette asked.

"I think so." Silver sat on the ground, peeking out from behind the rock. "I think we have to wait until it's really dark. I remember there being no light out."

The group sat and waited. Surprisingly enough, Charmy managed to sit still for a few hours before becoming bored and flying off. He returned at sundown with a singed pillowcase filled with random items.

"There was a house nearby! And it was abandoned! I found cool stuff!" He protested.

"Be quiet!" Vector hissed.

Silver began sorting through the items, a look of sadness covering his face.

"What's wrong?" Silhouette asked worriedly.

"This stuff…it was what we thought my 'dad' had brought." Silver said softly.

"Really?" Espio said, looking a bit taken aback.

"Yeah." Silver eyed the tent. "Turns out it…was me." He stood and approached the tent's door, dropping the pillowcase of items outside. Something moved within the case and the tent's door opened just as Silver was melting out of sight back behind the rock.

Blaze started happily exclaiming something, the other children's faces crowing the opening as they snatched up the case and vanished again.

"Well…at least we know what really happened." Silhouette shrugged sadly. "Sorry, Silver."

"It's ok…I doubted we'd find him anyway. I-" He trailed off.

"What?" Vector asked.

"Shhhhh! I heard something!"

The group fell silent, the only sound the happy squeals from inside the small tent. Something moved between a few of the toothpick-like trees.

"Who was that?" Charmy asked.

"Only one way to find out. Do you think this guy could pose a threat to the past you?" Espio asked Silver.

"I don't know. Let's follow him!"

They began to slowly creep forward, barely managing to catch the outline of the figure as he made his way through the dead trees. Then, without warning, he simply stopped at the tree line, facing the destruction the Flames of Disaster had brought.

"Well, he's a hedgehog, all right." Vector muttered.

"I think that's your dad, Silver!" Charmy squeaked.

"This is your chance! Talk to him!" Silhouette encouraged, giving Silver a slight push forwards.

He was now only three feet from his 'dad'. He just stood, unsure of what to do, a look of worry on his face. He turned to look back at the others, but they were nearly invisible in the darkness.

"Come on, Silver…" Silhouette whispered.

Much to their surprise, Silver turned and walked back to them. "I can't do this." He said. "What if I somehow mess up my future by talking to him? What if I endanger Blaze somehow? What if I don't really want to know?"

"What are you talking about?" Espio demanded a bit too loudly.

The hedgehog turned, definitely staring at them. But in the darkness, he couldn't see them and they couldn't see him. He spun back around to face the destruction before leaping over the hill and darting away.

All the group managed to see was that the hedgehog was dark coloured, nothing else.

** XxXxXxXx**

"I hope I did the right thing…" Silver sighed as they went back to their starting point: the large rock.

"Well, you dragged us on this long, pointless adventure." Vector growled.

"It was not! And I'm paying you for this adventure! Or maybe I shouldn't._ Then_ it'd be a 'pointless adventure'!" Silhouette hissed.

"Fine." Vector sighed.

"We should head back now." Silver said, holding the Chaos Emerald into the air. "Chaos Control!"

They appeared directly outside the detective agency. Charmy was about to pull the door open when it opened from the inside.

"Charmy, _get back here_!" Espio hissed.

Charmy managed to dive into the bushes with the others. "Why are we hiding?"

"Because _you_ just _walked out_ of the _agency_!" Vector said in a low whisper.

"I… what?" Charmy spun around to see himself, along with Vector and Espio, walk out of the agency's door.

"Silver! We're a few days too early!" Silhouette hissed.

"I can't do anything!" Silver panicked. "I lost the Emerald!"

"_What?_"

"Shhhhh!"

Vector, Espio, Silver, Charmy and Silhouette held their breath and watched as the detective's past selves walked away. "I think we're going to investigate Luke's mystery." Vector reported. "So we're a few weeks in the past."

"_Where did you possibly lose the Emerald?!_" Silhouette wrapped her hands around Silver's neck. "On second thought…_HOW could you possibly lose the Emerald?_!"

"Time-Space…rift…" Silver managed to choke out.

"Guys! This isn't helping! We'll just go inside and talk to GhostKing! She can help!" Charmy suggested.

"That's actually not a bad idea." Vector said, prying Silhouette away from Silver. "Come on, quick! Before 'we' get back!"

They rushed into the building and ran up to GhostKing's office. "We have a probablem!" Charmy shouted.

"What?" GhostKing asked. "I'm sort of busy, and another mystery came for you…" She threw a letter at them and then slammed the door shut.

"But…we can't solve a mystery _in the past_!" Charmy squeaked.

"Looks like we might have to." Vector said, opening the envelope. "It'll keep us occupied while we try to find the Emerald."

"Why can't we just use Tails' one?" Espio asked.

"Because in the future it'd be in a different place and we can't risk Silver losing another one." Vector said, not looking up from the letter.

"Sorry," Silver's ears drooped.

"Who wants us to solve a mystery?" Charmy asked.

"A guy named Thunder the Lion." Vector said.

** TO BE CONTINUED…**

** XxXxXxXx**

** I SO CONFUSE! **

** Lots of time traveling! Yey!**

** And so…will Silver want to go back and find his dad, despite the horrible things he's thinking of if he meets him? Will they get back to their own time at some point? Will they manage to solve a mystery without letting 'themselves' see them? Will I ever make sense?**

** Maybe. But you'll have to wait and see…**

** Most of this mystery(99.99%) brought to you by Theanimorpherz. Most of the next chapter will be brought to you by Gnat1.**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28**


	9. Chapter 8:Rift Pt2: A Hauntin We Will Go

**CHAPTER 8: Time-Space Rift Pt. 2: A Hauntin' we Will Go.**

**Mystery mostly by Gnat1, with a few ideas thrown in from me. BEGIN TRANSMISSION!**

Silver and Silhouette went and took refuge in another part of town, away from both 'themselves' and others that may catch on to something suspicious. The Chaotix Detectives went to meet their new client.

Thunder the Lion was waiting for them in a dense jungle between Seaside Hill and Mystic Ruins. He had purple eyes, green fur, and large catlike ears that stuck up from a wispy mane. He brought them to the scene of the crime and began to explain.

"My friends and I, Lightning the Hedgehog and Wind the Eagle, were hearing these loud wails coming from the forest a while back. They always started at eleven at night sharp and went for a few hours, finally just stopping and resuming the next night. We followed the sound last night and came here." He motioned around the sandy area they were standing in.

"But the weird thing was no one was around. But as soon as we stepped into the moonlight, the wails stopped. We decided to camp here for the night. When I woke up, Wind and Lightning were gone."

"You didn't hear them leave, or anything?" Vector asked.

"Nothing at all." Thunder admitted. "It was as though they just…snuck away."

"Any clues?" Espio asked.

"Yes…actually." Thunder nodded. "This way."

He lead them a bit further into the woods, almost to a beach. He pointed to the sand at his feet.

There was an almost perfect 3D imprint of a hand, pointing to the right. "I was sleeping here." Thunder said, motioning to the ground just a few feet away from the imprint of the pointing finger. "This was really what prompted me to find you. I mean…you can find my friends, right?"

"Of course. We're not amateurs." Vector said.

The group went to work checking the area for any clues. Nothing came up, other than a feather (Thunder explained it was from Wind) and an empty bag of chips (That Thunder guilty admitted he tossed).

Espio had eventually strayed from the group as they searched the area in a wide berth. He was standing nearby the 3D hand, facing the forest in the direction it pointed. He began to follow it, walking in a straight line until a tree stopped him.

As he turned around, something caught his eye.

In the bushes…there! A glimmer of blue. He knelt and picked up a shining blue sapphire-like jewel that appeared as though it had fallen out or off of something. Oddly enough, it seemed familiar…

"Oh, hey! Espio found something shiny!" Charmy reported loudly.

"What is it?" Vector asked.

Espio held up the jewel. "I don't know about you…but it looks familiar."

"Yeah…it does…" Vector narrowed his eyes and thought for a second. While he was doing that, Charmy snatched the sapphire from Espio, stared at it for a second, and said:

"That's GhostKing's. From her saber."

"Hey…it is!" Vector said. "How'd it get here? What was she doing out here?"

"My question is why the hand was pointing to it." Espio motioned back towards the hand imprinted in the sand. "Almost directly in its 'line of sight', if you can call it that."

"Maybe Wind or Lightning had just enough time to make a sign pointing to a clue?" Charmy suggested.

"That's an idea…" Vector nodded. He turned back to Thunder. "Did you happen to notice where the strange howls were coming from? Any specific place?"

"It sounded as though they were coming from treetops." Thunder said. "But we couldn't see anything up there and nothing flew away or anything as we approached."

"Charmy, go check the trees." Espio said.

"Ok!" Charmy flew off, buzzing from tree to tree.

"If my suspicions are correct…" Vector muttered to himself. "There should be a-"

"VECTOR! I FOUND A WEIRD BOX! IT LOOKS LIKE MY RADIO!" Charmy shouted.

"…suspicion correct?" Espio asked.

"Yes. Someone's been rigging this whole thing." Vector said as Charmy threw the box down at him. It was only about as big as a Kleenex box and just as light.

"But that still doesn't explain Lightning and Wind." Thunder said.

"Not yet. But I do have a few ideas on what happened to them. But we're going to have to hear these wails for ourselves. We're camping out tonight!"

"OH BOY! MARSHMALLOWS!" Charmy cheered.

**XxXxXxXx**

"Tell me again why we're doing this." Espio sighed.

"Partly because we can't go back to the agency because Silver screwed up time and space and partly because I just want to hear what drew Thunder and his friends out here." Vector explained in a low whisper.

"What time is it?" Charmy asked in bored tones. "And what kind of a camping trip is this? There's not even marshmallows!"

"Almost eleven. It should start soon." Thunder said.

A few more minuets passed in silence before a long, eerie wail began. It cut itself off and began again, louder this time and seemingly much more close. Charmy grabbed Vector's arm and refused to let go, terrified.

"That's what we've heard last time." Thunder nodded in the dim light. "And when we stepped into the moonlight…" He got up and took a couple of steps forward. As soon as he entered the light, the wails stopped almost immeadentally.

"And that's what happened to us, almost exacally." Thunder shrugged.

A stick snapped somewhere to their right. The group sprang up, prepared to face the incoming intruder. "Who's there? Show yourselves!" Espio hissed.

From the darkness came two figures, both of them walking in unison. Thunder squinted into the dim light and said, "Is that….no way…"

The two figures finally came into better light. One was an eagle with dark brown feathers and the other was a golden hedgehog. They had to be none other than Thunder's friends.

"Where have you guys been? Do you know how worried I was? I thought you were kidnapped! Killed! Maybe something worse than death…I don't know!" Thunder growled. "Well? Aren't you going to say something?"

They just stood, not making eye contract with anyone. Espio cautiously approached Lightning, staring into his eyes for a few seconds. "Their…their eyes look like Silver's after he came in contact with the Apple of Eris."

"Hey! Lightning!" Thunder smacked his friend across the face, knocking him to the ground. Lightning blinked madly and scrambled up.

"What happened?"

"Well, we figured out what was causing the wails." Thunder said. "And what happened to you."

"What do you mean? I was at my house." Lightning said. "And the next second, I'm here. Can anyone tell me what's going on?"

"First, you need to tell me what happened to you. We were out here last night, remember that?"

Lightning nodded.

"And after I stepped into the moonlight to cut the wails off, we all decided to call it a day. What happened to you after that?"

Lightning thought for a few long seconds. "I…I don't remember exactly. I think someone was telling me to get up…I think there was a sword or something…the first guy ran off…"

Thunder was busy reviving Wind. The eagle jumped up from the ground after being hit down, screaming, "What the heck was that for?!"

"You were zoned out, man." Thunder sighed. "What do you remember from this time last night until now?"

"Nothing really. I was at my house."

"Ok, now this is a bit weird…" Charmy said.

Another sound caught their attention. The group turned to see a bush move slightly, as though someone had ducked behind it.

"Come out!" Vector growled.

The bush moved a bit more and two figures approached them slowly. "Hi, guys. We didn't know where you went, so we've just sort of been wondering…" Silhouette muttered.

"What's going on here?" Silver asked.

"Nothing much. Go away." Vector sighed.

"Hey, that's him!" Lightning exclaimed. "He came and told me to go back to my house last night!"

"What, me?" Silver asked.

"Yes, you! Who else around here is pure white?"

"I wasn't out here!" Silver protested. "I didn't even know this part of the forest existed! We just followed your voices here!"

"Did you rig this place with the speakers?" Wind demanded.

"What? No!"

"All right, we'll deal with him later." Vector said. "Wind and Lightning are back now, and I think that's really all that matters here. Well…that and finding the source of the wails. We should get those speakers and crush them."

"We'll do that in the morning. Thanks, guys." Thunder said, taking a glowing gem from behind his back. "I found this a few days ago…I don't know what it does, but maybe you do. It's really all I can pay you with, so I hope it's ok…"

"Hey, the Chaos Emerald!" Silhouette cheered. "Great! Thanks!"

"Thank _you_." Thunder said.

"All right. Come on, guys. There's one more thing we have to do…" Vector said.

**XxXxXxXx**

"It's the middle of the night! GhostKing's not going to come to the door!" Espio sighed.

Vector just pointed to one of the windows of the agency. It was lit up, and they could see the shadow of a figure bent over a desk and studying some notes. He walked up to the door and knocked sharply, putting the blue sapphire they had found on the welcome mat before diving back into the bushes.

GhostKing did indeed open the door and find her gem. She bent down, scooped it up, and slammed the door shut behind her.

"She must really like that thing." Charmy observed.

"Well, our work here is done." Espio said. "Now the main mystery is why Silver is being blamed for everything."

"You know I didn't do that, right?" Silver asked.

"You're still under house arrest!" Charmy said.

Silver sighed and raised the Chaos Emerald into the air. "Chaos Control!"

**XxXxXxXx**

Silhouette had given them a diamond necklace as payment for trying to find Silver's father. Now the three detectives were sitting in the TV room in the back of the agency, pondering what they had witnessed in the past few days.

"I would never have imagined that Silver's dad would have dark fur like that." Espio said.

"Now we know what his mother looks like." Charmy said.

"When he just jumped off the hill like that…didn't he look familiar?" Vector asked. "I mean…dark fur…hedgehog…You don't think…?"

The three of them paused slightly.

"Nah. That's impossible." Espio concluded.

**XxXxXxXx**

**Cool! I wrote a time-traveling mystery! These things are so hard to do sometimes! I confused myself!**

**Remember in the last ****Detective Agency**** story when Amy was being caught up in everything? Now it's Silver. **

**So will they get to the bottom of the strange occurrences and such? Will they prove Silver innocent? Will they rescue Shadow from GUN? Will they do anything at all?! There's TV to be watched, after all…**

**Find out next time!**

**Oh, I just uploaded my _50th story_! It's a STAR TREK and Sonic crossover! So if you're into that kind of thing, check it out! Although I won't be able to work on it until I get done with this story here...**

**Next mystery is HyperTomboi429's!**

**Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

**Lordoftheghostking28**

**PS: My neighbor's cat that was supposedly run over by a car…IS STILL ALIVE! I got to see my kitty again! The bad news is either his son or his dad got run over in his place…poor cat. I like cats. **


	10. Chapter 9: Darkest Deaths

** CHAPTER 9: Darkest Deaths**

** HyperTomboi429's mystery.**

The rest of the day passed uneventfully.

It was at one in the morning and pouring rain when the day started up early. Vector awoke to the sound of someone pounding on the front door. He jumped out of bed and darted down the stairs to the door, Espio, GhostKing and Charmy standing in their doorways looking tired and confused.

"What's going on? At this hour, too?" Charmy asked, yawning.

Vector had yanked open the door and a gray-blue hedgehog stumbled into the room, soaked head to toe. She wore a white T-shirt, black jacket, black slacks, white sneakers with grays straps, gray fingerless gloves, and black basketball wristbands.

"You've got to help me!" She cried, her voice breaking. "You've got to!"

"We will…what's wrong?" Vector demanded.

"There was an explosion! My…my mom and dad…" The hedgehog coughed. "They're…they're _dead_!"

"Where did this happen?" Espio demanded, running down the stairs. He was quickly followed by Charmy and GhostKing.

"Leaf Forest! I…I came here because I know you can help…!" She trailed off, sinking to the floor.

"Help me get her to the couch." GhostKing took one arm of their visitor and hauled her up.

"They're dead…" The hedgehog muttered again. "…Dead…"

** XxXxXxXx**

"She's got to be exhausted." GhostKing muttered, casting their guest a look. The hedgehog had fallen asleep on the couch and had stayed that way for the past few hours. The rain outside still hadn't ceased. "Leaf Forest is at least twenty miles away…"

"She came all that way just to ask us for help? Why didn't she contact the police?" Espio asked.

"Well, one of the many things we'll have to ask her." Vector yawned.

"Her parents are dead?" Charmy squeaked.

"Apparently." Espio couldn't help but notice GhostKing was holding her saber again, the blue sapphire back in its normal place on the hilt. He knew his boss to be paranoid, but this was a bit extreme…

"I'll make pancakes." GhostKing stood. "I think she could use a good meal when she wakes."

"Don't burn the kitchen down." Charmy warned, all humor gone from his voice.

The three of them sort of stared into space, listening to the rain come down outside. "Isn't Leaf Forest really…well…isolated from society?" Vector asked.

"But that still doesn't explain why she came all this way." Espio said.

The hedgehog coughed and turned over on the couch, falling off the edge and landing heavily on the floor. She scrambled up and spun around to face the three detectives, terrified.

"It's ok!" Charmy squeaked. "We're going to help you! Can you tell us what happened?"

The hedgehog continued staring at them for a while before falling heavily back onto the couch. "My parents are dead." She started. "I…I don't know how or why. Or what destroyed my home. There was an explosion…I was thrown out into the woods. I just started running…I don't think I stopped until I reached this place. I don't know what lead me here…I just heard someone talking about you at some point and my brain screamed at me, '_Chaotix Detective Agency.'_"

"Why didn't you just go to the police?" Vector asked.

"Because…" The hedgehog trailed off for a few seconds. "…I don't know how or why I thought this…but I think I'd be putting them in danger."

"What's your name?" Espio asked.

"I'm Bolt." The hedgehog said. "I can control natural elements like fire, water, earth, air, electricity, and some metals."

"That's awesome!" Charmy exclaimed. "Why can't I do anything cool?"

"You work for us. That's cool enough." Espio said.

Bolt smiled slightly.

** XxXxXxXx**

The rain was still coming down heavily. The group had managed to convince Tails to fly them a good twenty miles to Leaf Forest, but they still had a long ways to go through the woods. Tails stayed behind in the plane, the cockpit now covered by a huge dome of glass.

Charmy was carrying an umbrella at least six times as big as he was and trying to fly at the same time. Vector had stolen GhostKing's rain poncho, but it didn't seem to be doing any good. Espio had given his umbrella to Bolt and was now drenched by the rain.

"I never really caught your names." Bolt said.

"I'm Espio. The bee is Charmy and that's Vector." Espio said.

"I like ice cream." Charmy said.

Bolt smiled slightly once again, but it was drowned out by a heavy sigh. "I can't believe this really happened…it's like a dream…"

"Maybe it is." Vector muttered, trying to see beyond the trees and sheets of pouring rain.

They kept walking—or more like kept tripping over logs, roots and falling in mud puddles—until a structure rose out of the gloom. Bolt sped up, the three detectives quickly following.

"Welcome to the Leaf Forest village." Bolt said sadly. "Or…what's left of it. I think everyone evacuated."

She walked over to the splintered remains of a house. Vector bent down to pick something up and Charmy, Espio and Bolt explored the wreckage. "This was the living room." Bolt sighed.

"What could have done something like this?" Charmy asked.

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Espio growled.

"I think I found something." Vector reported.

Espio walked over while Charmy kept Bolt company. "What? Is it a clue?"

"Seems to be." Vector held a tiny shard of a crystal out. "I don't know where this could have come from…"

"We'll take it back to the agency. I've seen enough here to know that whoever did this…they were aiming to kill in the first place. I think everyone else is lucky to have escaped while they could." Espio glanced around once again. "Even if there were clues in Bolt's house…they're buried under debris and probably impossible to find now."

"So in other words…there's nothing worth staying for?" Vector asked.

Espio nodded, walking back over to the demolished house to guide Charmy and Bolt back to Tails' plane.

** XxXxXxXx**

"It hasn't stopped raining once." Charmy muttered. They had made it back to the agency and were now just trying to get warm.

"It's freezing out there!" Bolt shivered, pulling the blanket she was wrapped in closer. "I'd be surprised if we all didn't catch colds."

"Bolt…have you ever seen this?" Espio held out the crystal shard that Vector had found.

"No…why? Did you find that in the forest?"

"Nearby your house." Vector said from the main desk.

"Maybe the killer dropped it!" Bolt said. "It looks like it might have come off a necklace or something…any ideas?"

"We can't just jump to conclusions." Espio reminded her. "We need more clues, or pointers, or anything before we start adding things together."

The phone rang and Vector picked it up on the third ring. "Chaotix Detective Agency. How can we…oh. Hi, Silver."

"I wonder what he's calling about." Charmy wondered.

"Probably asking if he's not under house arrest anymore." Espio sighed.

Bolt chuckled. "Can you even do that?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know." The chameleon shrugged.

The three of them turned to watch Vector, who was becoming very animated with his responses. "You saw_ what_? When?...What happened after that?...We'll be right over!" He slammed the phone down and turned to the others. "Come on, guys. I think Silver's giving us the clue we need."

"What? Out in the rain? _Again?_!" Charmy wailed.

"Come on!"

"What kind of clue?" Bolt asked, slightly nervous.

"He said he'd tell us more at his house, but he saw something in the sky last night. He said it was hovering over a large forest…"

** XxXxXxXx**

The four of them went as fast as they could down the rain-slicked sidewalks, along the way bumping into one of the detectives' past clients, Dark Misery.

"Hi, guys! Why the rush?" He asked.

"Not now, Dark Misery!" Vector sighed.

"Oh, ok." He went on with his business.

They finally came to Silver's place, Vector pounding so hard on the door that it cracked slightly. Silver quickly opened it. "I'm not deaf, you know!" He sighed.

The four of them stumbled into his house, throwing umbrellas and rain ponchos into the corner.

"All right… what did you see last night?" Vector demanded. "This is important! Her parents were killed!"

"Really?" Silver gasped. "Well…uh…there was this…really small, dark cloud swirling above a forest. It wasn't a natural cloud, I know that much. I could only see it through flashes of occasional lightning, and then it just darted straight down in a small orb. There was a soft explosion…I could feel the ground shake."

"Anything else?" Espio asked.

"After the explosion…the cloud went back into the air and drifted off towards the other side of town." Silver said. "That's really all I know."

"The forest had to be Leaf Forest." Bolt sighed. "I think you've spotted the killer…or something used by the killer."

Silver stared at the ground, muttering things about how everything always happens to him and he didn't do anything to deserve house arrest.

"Shut up, Silver." Vector growled. "We've got bigger things to worry about at the moment. Just sit tight for now and we'll get back to you later."

"What do we do now?" Charmy asked.

"Silver said the cloud went towards the other side of town, right? We have to follow it." Espio said.

"How are we going to catch a cloud?" Bolt asked sadly.

"Something tells me it isn't just a cloud…"

**XxXxXxXx**

The group found themselves standing in the middle of a soaked field. The rain had finally let up, but the ground still was a standing puddle. They sloshed into the middle of the field and began glancing around.

"I don't see anything." Charmy reported.

"Well, obviously." Vector sighed. "Spread out. Maybe we'll find something."

They split up. Bolt inched her way around a tree stump and continued towards the edge of a small wooded area, a small group of trees providing a nice home for a family of squirrels.

"This is impossible. There's no way a killer would just be hanging around here…" Bolt muttered to herself. "What am I going to do?"

She turned away from the forest and began making her way back towards the others when a sound caught her attention. Bolt didn't know how to place it, but it was the sound of pure evil. She spun around, unsure of who or what was behind her. A shadow moved, then began towards her. Nothing was casting it…

"Guys?!" Bolt began to back up nervously. Energy crackled in her hands for protection. "_Guys?_!"

The shadow swirled upwards, seeming to be taking a shape. Within a few seconds it had taken the solid form of a hedgehog. A crystal-like substance covered his limbs and quills and his eyes were bright green against a vivid purple.

Bolt had fallen in her haste to escape, now inching backwards. The demon-like being in front of her laughed. "Oh, Bolt. Same as ever. Why do you try to run from your fate?"

"Go away! Wh…who _are _you?" Bolt demanded, still backing up.

"I am Mephiles. Mephiles the Dark." The demon said, staring directly at her.

"Bolt! What's going…" Vector trailed off as he came up beside his client. "What's going on?"

"I don't know! Do you know this guy?" Bolt managed to stand again.

"We know him, all right." Espio growled. "Last time we saw him we thought he was locked away forever."

"It was only a matter of time before I would have escaped." Mephiles began staggering towards them. He held out his hand, where a bright red stone was.

Mephiles had been trapped in a stone sheltering Iblis' spirit during the attack by Scourge. The Chaotix and the others thought that he would be unable to escape…but they were obviously wrong.

"If you're here…" Charmy squeaked. "…Does that mean that Iblis is here too?"

"No. Not until the Iblis Trigger is destroyed." Mephiles faced Bolt again. "Join us, Bolt. I can grant you anything with the power that I now have. Do not resist, or I will be forced to destroy you like I did your parents."

"My…you killed my parents?" Bolt managed to say in a strangled whisper.

"I can bring them back." Mephiles promised. "Just the way they were before they were destroyed. All you have to do is join me."

"He's lying." Espio growled. "Even with all the Seven Chaos Emeralds, that would be near impossible. You can't possibly control that kind of power."

Mephiles laughed again. "How are you so sure?"

"I know he's telling the truth." Bolt hissed. "You can't possibly undo what you've done! You've killed my only family! I'll destroy you!" Energy crackled in her hands as the flung the sphere of electricity at the demon. Bright sparks obscured the group's vision for a few seconds before they looked back to see that Mephiles had vanished.

"Quickly! Back to the agency! We've got to tell GUN that we've found one of the escaped!" Vector shouted.

** XxXxXxXx**

"How's Bolt?" Vector asked. They had made it back to the agency safely, but since then Bolt had been extremely quiet and almost unresponsive to anything they asked.

"She's sad." Charmy said. "So I'm going to make her and me some hot chocolate, because she's making me sad too!"

Vector watched the bee fly off before glancing into the TV room, where Bolt was curled at the far corner of the couch. Espio was talking to her about some unknown subject, and Vector wasn't about to interrupt them.

Why had Mephiles been after her, out of all people? Why hadn't he gone after Sonic or someone twenty times as powerful as their client? Why her, out of all people? He even seemed…_desperate_.

Charmy came flying out of the kitchen bearing two steaming mugs that were probably loaded with fifty times the normal amount of chocolate. "Want hot chocolate, Bolt?"

Vector returned to his desk and went over some mystery notes he had written down on Luke and Josh, both of whom were still missing. Along with their notes, there were other things scrawled in the margins of the paper involving Summer's stolen ring, Shadow and Silver's odd behavior, the escapees from GUN, the stolen Timeonds, and various things about Thunder the Lion and his friends.

Vector couldn't explain it, but he just _knew_ that this was all connected…somehow…

** XxXxXxXx**

"Bolt finally fell asleep." Charmy said a bit later. "And we can't watch TV because she's in that room. I feel so sorry for her! First her parents…and now there's a creeper after her!"

"Anyone know why Mephiles was after her, out of all people?" Vector asked.

The three of them were silent for a while before Espio surprisingly spoke up.

"Love,"

"_What?_" Charmy demanded.

"Love." Espio repeated. "Think about it. He killed her parents so she'd lose all hope…and then he comes and tells her he can bring them back to life if she joins him. There's no other explanation. Bolt's not necessarily strong in terms of power, and she otherwise wouldn't be viewed as a threat."

"Oh, good Chaos…" Vector facepalmed. "You know the world's at its end when demons start falling in love…"

"This is serious, Vector." Espio hissed. "Partly because she could be in real danger and partly because I think she's beginning to develop feelings for me."

"Oh, good Chaos!" Charmy exclaimed.

"For the record, I have none for her. She is a client, and I am sworn to help solve her case." Espio bluntly growled.

"Believe me, we know that." Vector sighed. "But how the heck are we going to keep her safe from someone like Mephiles…?"

"I don't know yet. Although I believe the agency isn't the safest place. Mephiles already knows we're working with her."

"We can ask Vanilla to watch her!" Charmy suggested. "That way, Vector can go and see her while on the case!"

"Shut up, Charmy…" Vector sighed again.

"Or maybe Tails or Grock and help! They're awesome and nerdy! They could help-" Charmy was cut off as a loud explosion shook the agency. From the other room, Bolt screamed.

The three detectives ran into the back room to find one window blown out, glass scattered across the room. Mephiles was standing in the center of the room, an arm around Bolt's neck. His other hand was holding a knife, which was pressed to her head.

"Don't follow me." He growled before jumping out the window and vanishing.

** XxXxXxXx**

** …And Bolt is never seen or head of again.**

** I'm kidding! *Dodges HyperTomboi429's bullets* **

** But now another client has gone missing! Supposedly kidnapped out of love! What has this world come to?**

** So what will happen? Will they rescue Bolt? Will they ever find out what happened to Luke and Josh? Will Espio finally get a girlfriend?**

** Can't tell yet. You'll just have to wait and see!**

** I wrote this mystery in a Snuggie! I love my Snuggie! And I just ordered a refurbished iPod Touch online! Yey! So I can write stuff on long car rides in the Notes! (I've been saving up for one of these things for three years now…)**

** Next up is Johnny RocketBooster's and Pandamonium's mystery(s)!**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28**


	11. Chapter 10: Party Gem Stalkers

** CHAPTER 10: Party Gem Stalkers!**

** Mystery a combo of Johnny RocketBooster's and Pandamonium's!**

** And before I begin, I will announce the order of the last mysteries:**

**SakuraDreamerz**

** Aakash98**

**Aj the Human**

** And then the finale will be written by me. Well…Actually, I planned to put Aj's mystery in the middle of the final battle…OOPS! Spoiler!**

** This is really looking epic, you guys! Onto the story!**

** XxXxXxXx**

"_Bolt!_" The three detectives shouted, all of them darting out the agency. But Mephiles had already gone to who knows where…leaving no trace.

"This is bad!" Charmy said.

"Understatement of the century!" Vector shouted. "How many clients have gone missing this time around? Josh, Luke…and now Bolt!"

"The worst part is there's nothing we can do." Espio walked back inside the agency, surveying the damage done to the back room. "Mephiles might have jumped dimensions somehow. The most we can do at the moment is get GUN on the case."

"What good will they do? They've never done anything!" Charmy exclaimed.

"It's better than nothing…"

** THAT NIGHT…**

"Um…excuse me…"

Vector looked up from where he was analyzing notes to see someone standing in front of the main desk.

He was a dark blue hedgefox with spiked messy blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes; he also had three quills on each side of his face going straight up. He was wearing a dark yellow green t-shirt that said "I'm multitalented, I can talk and annoy you at the SAME TIME" with blue faded skater jeans, red converse high tops with black laces, and blue, black, and gray fingerless steel plated X-Game gloves.

"Can I help you?" Vector asked, sighing.

"I have something I would like your help on." The hedgefox said. "You see, my friend Amy Rose is being stalked. We haven't found any clues on who it is, but she has seen the stalker around a lot more lately."

"Is he by any chance a brown hedgehog?" Vector asked.

"No…that much we know. He has black fur." The hedgefox said, extending a hand. "I'm Moonlight Booster."

"We'll help you find the stalker." Vector promised.

"He was last seen in Emerald Town. Amy reported him following her around the mall there. He was wearing a hat pulled over his eyes…I've never seen this guy following her before…" Moonlight shook his head. "Here, meet me at my house tomorrow. Here's the address,"ere'H

He handed Vector a small slip of paper.

** XxXxXxXx**

Amy answered the door as the three detectives knocked the next morning. "Hi, guys." She said. "Thanks for coming."

They entered into a small living room and sat on a couch, facing a small loveseat that currently held Moonlight. Amy sat next to him.

"Did you ever get a good look at this guy?" Espio began.

"No…just that he has dark fur." Amy said.

"When did you begin to notice him?"

"About a month back." Amy said. "He was following me around the mall. He looked slightly familiar, so I think he's been following me a bit before that."

"Has he ever sent you notes or items?" Vector asked.

"I found a box of chocolates on my doorstep one day, but I never ate them. Sonic did. He came over and ate them all and then vanished. It's like he _knew _I had candy." Amy rolled her eyes.

"Right…so that's it?"

"Yeah. He's never come close to me or done anything threatening. But I just feel…unsafe wherever I go. I need you guys to find him and get him to leave me alone." Amy said.

"Sure thing! We can begin by luring him out!" Charmy said. "So you have to go shopping tomorrow and buy me ice cream!"

"That actually is a good idea…" Moonlight thought.

Charmy turned circles in the air, excited by the thought of more ice cream. "Yey! When do we go?"

** XxXxXxXx**

"Instead of ice cream, can I get coffee?" Charmy asked.

"No way." Amy sighed, glancing behind her. Instead of the mysterious stalker, all she saw was Moonlight.

The Chaotix had decided on a plan. Amy and Charmy would go and get ice cream while Moonlight followed at a safe distance. When he saw the stalker, he was to approach him and demand him to follow him. Moonlight would then lead the stalker to the other two detectives, where they'd proceed to question him about the case.

Moonlight winked and then glanced away, going to look in the window of a shop.

Amy and Charmy got their ice cream and then sat at a small table, trying not to draw any attention towards themselves. "This is good." Charmy declared. Amy could barely hold in her laughter at his ice cream-smeared face.

"I don't know who's having a better time…you with your ice cream, or me finally feeling safe?" She chuckled.

"Um…excuse me, Miss!"

Amy glanced down at a small cat. "Yes? What is it?"

"There's a guy over there that wants to talk to you!" The cat pointed towards the door and ran away.

Amy stood. "Think you can guard my ice cream for me, Charmy?"

"Sure!"

"I'll be right back." As Amy headed away from the table, she couldn't help but notice Moonlight wasn't in sight…

"Are you Amy Rose?" A figure in a hoodie said. His head was bowed, so she couldn't see his face.

"…Yes?"

"You want me to stop following you?"

"You…leave me alone!" Amy stumbled backwards, but his hand had wrapped around her arm.

"Oh, I'll gladly leave. For a price."

"_Moonlight_!" Amy shouted.

From out of the crowd, the hedgefox jumped over a table and slammed his fist into the stalker's chest, shoving him backwards. The causal conversations and talk that had been going on between customers was suddenly silenced as everyone watched.

"You're coming with me." Moonlight growled, grabbing the stalker's sleeve and hauling him up.

"No," The stalker said almost inaudibly before twisting Moonlight's arm back almost to the breaking point. Moonlight lost his grip and fell to the ground, allowing the stalker to escape out the door.

"Moonlight!" Amy helped him up. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." He growled. "But that did _not_ go according to plan."

He turned to face the crowd. "Go back to your business! Nothing to see here!"

The chatter quickly resumed. Amy walked back to the table she was sharing with Charmy, a bit surprised to find both his and her ice cream gone.

Before long the other two detectives came over.

"Well, we can give it another go tonight." Amy said.

"When and how?" Espio asked.

"There's a party tonight…a lot of people I know will be there. And I'm guessing you'd know a lot too. Want to come? I can almost guarantee that the creep will be there."

"He's more than just a creep…" Moonlight sighed.

"Yeah, he's a weirdo!" Charmy said.

"No," Moonlight growled. "I managed to see his face. I know who the stalker is."

"Who?" Vector demanded.

"He's my brother."

** XxXxXxXx**

Amy, Moonlight, Vector, Charmy and Espio arrived at a brightly lit house with music blaring on the inside.

"This the place?" Vector asked.

"How many other houses are this obnoxious?" Amy sighed, knocking on the door.

It was opened by a short, chubby panda about Knuckles' height. "Hi, Amy! Glad you could make it! Come in!"

"Sang-Yun, I hope you don't mind…but I brought along a couple of friends." Amy said. "These guys are Vector, Espio, Charmy and Moonlight." She pointed to each one in turn.

"Oh, good! This is really a party now!" Sang-Yun exclaimed, darting back into the house. "Hey, guys! Unexpected guests!"

"Sweet! Hey, Ames!" Sonic said. "Rouge, Knuckles and Silver are here too!"

"_Silver_?!" Vector glanced around just in time to see a flash of white fur as said hedgehog hid behind a chair. "You're under house arrest! That does not mean go out and join a party!"

"Why are we partying, anyway?" Charmy asked.

"Well, Shadow's locked up by GUN…" Sonic began, but quickly stopped once Rouge threatened to snap a chair like a twig over his head.

While Vector was chewing out Silver, the others began to talk amongst themselves until Rouge unclipped a beautiful diamond necklace from around her neck. "You won't believe what I got today!"

"Did you steal it?" Charmy asked.

"Of course not!" Rouge growled. "But I am willing to sell it to you at a reasonable price."

"Forget it, Rouge, no one here is that rich." Knuckles said.

"Make me an offer." Rouge said, placing the expensive piece of jewelry on the table.

"Nah, I'm good." Sonic ran off to the kitchen, probably to raid Sang-Yun's fridge. Silver and Knuckles followed.

Vector, Espio, Moonlight and Charmy all stayed together, muttering ideas about random things and people. Sang-Yun took a seat next to the necklace and examined it, finally saying, "I'll offer one thousand dollars, Rouge!"

"That's a joke, right?"

Sang-Yun frowned. "One thousand five hundred dollars!"

"For what? The chain?"

Sang-Yun stood again and muttered something about going to the bathroom before walking off.

"This_ is_ a great party!" Sonic exclaimed from the kitchen. "I found the ice cream!"

"OOOH ICE CREAM!" Charmy zipped after them.

"He's going to go into a sugar coma…" Espio facepalmed. He, Vector and Moonlight walked into an unoccupied room, mostly to get away from everyone.

"Remind me to lock all the things with sugar away when we get back to the agency." Vector sighed.

"I hate parties." Moonlight grumbled.

The three of them sat awkwardly for a few minuets before they heard Sang-Yun came back from the bathroom and exclaim, "Wow, did you really sell the necklace, Rouge?"

"No, it's right…" she trailed off. "The necklace! Where is it?!"

"Where were you for the past few minuets?" Sang-Yun asked.

"Right here, keeping an eye on those in your kitchen."

Vector, Espio and Moonlight had entered back into the main party room. "What's going on, now?" Vector asked.

"My necklace! Someone stole it!" Rouge wailed.

"Where's Amy?" Charmy asked, flying over with a huge bowl of ice cream.

"That's a good question! Amy!" Sang-Yun shouted.

Amy came running from another room. "I'm sorry…what?"

"Rouge's necklace is missing. Do you know what could have happened?"

"I was in there the entire time!" Amy protested. "Sorry, Sang-Yun…I found where you keep the éclairs."

"Why is everyone eating my food?" Sang-Yun pulled at his ears.

"Because you're hosting the party!" Knuckles shouted from the kitchen.

"Yeah!" Charmy added, shoveling ice cream into his mouth.

"Are you sure you didn't just pick up the necklace again, Rouge?" Espio asked.

"I'm certain!" Rouge exclaimed. "I wouldn't just _lose_ something worth as much as that!"

"I never left the kitchen, so you can't blame me this time!" Silver growled. He was still in the said area, smothering some ice cream in fudge.

"Same here." Knuckles said. "We're witnesses for each other. But we can't say the same for Sonic. He left a few minutes ago and just came back."

"Bathroom," Sonic muttered, walking over towards the main group.

"Wait…" Espio said. "Sang-Yun was just in there."

Charmy snickered for seemingly no apparent reason.

"Be quiet, Charmy!" Vector growled.

"Sonic did it!" Rouge hissed. "Let me tell you that the necklace is worth more than you life! So hand it over before I-"

"Rouge!" Sang-Yun held her back from rushing into the kitchen and pounding Sonic to a pulp.

"You'd better run, Sonic…" Knuckles muttered.

"Where were you really, Sonic?" Espio asked.

"I was…uh…" Sonic blushed.

"He was talking to me." Amy spoke up. "Apparently I seemed 'worried and sad'. Let me say, Sonic…you're not the best at comforting."

"Oh? Sonic's talking to Amy instead of the other way around?" Silver grinned.

"Yeah, at least I'm not under house arrest!" Sonic hissed.

"As far as I know, Lover Boy's out of the question here." Vector could barely suppress a smile. "And as for Espio, Moonlight and I…we went into that room over there and simply enjoyed a bit of piece away from you people."

"Well, gee, thanks." Rouge growled. "At least I know that you're truthful. I saw you leave while the necklace was still on the table."

"What about Charmy?" Sang-Yun asked.

"I didn't do it!" Charmy said, licking the ice cream bowl he was holding. "There was too much ice cream to be eaten!"

"He didn't do it." Vector confirmed. "So that leaves…"

"Amy! Amy did it!" Charmy accused.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you stole Sydney's memory card earrings! You might have done it again with Rouge's necklace!"

"Charmy, we don't have proof!" Espio sighed.

"I think she did do it." Rouge hissed. "Sang-Yun left for a while…and then I turned my back for literally three seconds and you were out of the room."

"I told you, I was talking to Sonic!" Amy protested.

"Oh, sure you were talking to him," Espio narrowed his eyes. "while you were stuffing Rouge's treasure into your glove." He pointed to Amy's left glove, where a small bulge was almost invisible.

Amy stared at the floor as she drew the necklace out of her glove. "I didn't think you'd notice." She said softly.

Rouge snatched it back. "_Thank you_." She said harshly.

"I didn't do it because I wanted to." Amy continued. "The stalker said he could be paid off. I was going to take the necklace and sell it so I could pay him to leave me alone."

"Yeah…that sounds like him, all right." Moonlight muttered.

"A stalker?" Sang-Yun asked, surprised.

"Yes. And if I were you, I'd act casual. I see him right outside the window." Espio turned to Vector as if he were talking to him. "Silver, is there a way out of the kitchen into the yard?"

"Yeah, why?" Silver reported.

"I want you, Sonic and Knuckles to charge outside. Keep the guy busy. We'll go out the front and get him."

"Flawless plan," Rouge muttered sarcastically.

"It's really all we've got." Espio said. "All right…go."

The three in the kitchen ran towards the door, shouting death threats and random war cries that sure sounded intimidating. Espio, Vector, Rouge, Moonlight, Charmy, Amy and Sang-Yun darted for the other door, throwing it open and running around the side of the house.

Silver had frozen the stalker with his power, Knuckles and Sonic standing nearby. "That went well." Sonic commented.

"You can release him, Silver." Moonlight said.

The stalker stood, rooted to the spot, for a few seconds more mostly out of fear. Moonlight grabbed him by the reddish shirt he wore and shouted, "What is wrong with you, Midnight?!"

"Oh, you realized it was me." The stalker, or Midnight, shrugged. "I was wondering when you'd come to that conclusion."

"What are you doing, stalking Amy like this?" Moonlight shook his brother's shoulders hard.

"Calm down, bro! I needed money. She pays me to stop following her, I get money to do with as I please. I need the extra cash…I haven't had a job in months." Midnight said.

"Well, you'll not be having one soon, either."

"What do you mean?"

"You're going to jail." Moonlight hissed.

** XxXxXxXx**

"Thanks for not arresting me too." Amy said awkwardly to the three detectives.

After the police cars had finally gone, Sang-Yun turned back to his group of guests. "Well, now that we've put a stalker in jail, that's a reason to celebrate, is it not?"

"Sounds good enough to me!" Sonic rushed back into the house.

"Sang-Yun has that cool whipped cream that you spray into your mouth!" Charmy exclaimed, quickly following.

"Eh…why not?" Vector shrugged.

"Thanks for your help." Moonlight said. "Here's all I can spare." He handed him a beautiful pearl. "I found it one day…I have no use for it. Hopefully you will. If not, you can always sell it for a good price."

"Thanks, Moonlight." Espio said.

Needless to say, Sang-Yun's food supply had greatly diminished by the next morning.

** XxXxXxXx**

** That turned out better than I thought it would. Wow, these two mysteries really went hand-in-hand!**

** Thanks to Johnny RocketBooster and Pandamonium!**

** Next is**** SakuraDreamerz****'s mystery!**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28 **


	12. Chapter 11: SakuraDreamerz's Mystery

**CHAPTER 11:**

**SakuraDreamerz****'s mystery!**

Bolt couldn't help but stare as she was half dragged, half lead down a long corridor. All along the walls were pictures of…worlds. Each with a name inscribed at the bottom of the frame. As she continued down the hall, the worlds grew more complex, different colours and shapes of the continents on each surface.

"Don't hesitate," Mephiles growled, guiding her down a hallway that branched from the first. This one's walls were a lonely gray, no decoration or variation of colour.

"Where are we going?" Bolt demanded. "Where are we?"

"Don't ask questions." Mephiles pulled open a door and they entered into a pitch-dark room. The door shut automatically. "This is where you'll be staying. Do not leave unless I come for you."

A small light flicked on, illuminating the tiny room that consisted of many boxes that would make a suitable place to hide behind if the time came. "Why?" Bolt asked. "Why haven't you just killed me yet like my parents? Why am I here?"

"You're going to survive this, even if the other worlds don't." Mephiles said, drifting back towards the door.

"Wait!" Bolt shouted, but he had gone, the door locking in place behind him. She glanced around the dimly lit room and her curiosity got the best of her.

What exacally was in all those boxes…?

**XxXxXxXx**

"This is all?"

"Yes."

Nazo glanced from one villain to the next, disappointment clearly on his face. "This is all Scourge used to try and conquer Mobius?"

"There were others." Robotnik said. "Draken and Violet. I don't know where they are."

"The cowards most likely ran away." Mephiles said.

"We'll just have to manage without them," Nazo said. "With Scourge nearly to full health again, we will be ready to begin the final invasion. We only require certain items for the beginning of the attack, like the ring that Jack brought into our possession."

Jack grinned madly. "I wouldn't have let you down."

"The ring, along with the many Timeonds, combined with our own natural powers should be more than enough to get us to Mobius." Nazo began. "Once there, one of our 'unwilling spies' will hand over the seven Chaos Emeralds. With that, we will begin the attack on their puny world. But there is still one object we need…one that will guarantee our success…"

"What is it?" Rosy asked.

"It is an object of great power that is being fiercely guarded by the Chaotix." Nazo began pacing. "All of our attempts have been in vain. We nearly had it in our grasp…"

"The Chaotix are guarding this…object?" Jack scoffed. "They can't guard a puny ring! What would be of such value that they're entrusted with it?"

"It isn't just a puny ring, Jack!" Nazo glared. "It's a power enhancer! It, along with the items of power controlled be me…we will be truly unstoppable!"

"Right…but what is this object they're guarding?"

"It's a sapphire known simply as 'Vortex.'" Nazo growled. He glanced at two hedgehogs near the back of the room. "You two! Josh! Luke! Do you know what this object is?"

Both of them just blinked, their eyes unfocused and staring directly in front of them, as though they were hypnotized. "No." Luke said.

"Does anyone in here have any idea?" Nazo demanded, pacing faster now.

Silence covered the room for a long while. No one spoke up.

"Didn't…no…that's impossible…" Robotnik muttered to himself.

"What?" Nazo asked bluntly.

"Back in the first attack…" He hesitated slightly. "There was a girl with a sword. It had a blue sapphire in the hilt, and she was using this sword to take out my robots."

"Yeah, I remember her!" Rosy growled. "Skilled with that blade, too. It's as thought she were wielding that thing since birth."

"Where is she?" Nazo demanded.

"She's the Chaotix boss." Mephiles said.

"Why didn't I realize this sooner?" Nazo roared. "I'll take care of the girl. The rest of you…work on assembling an army!"

With that, he stormed out of the room. The Vortex would soon be his…

**XxXxXxXx**

"We've got another mystery!" Charmy exclaimed, darting into the TV room. The wall that had been destroyed when Mephiles had kidnapped Bolt was patched up, ugly looking but at least keeping the wind out. Vector grabbed the envelope from the bee and read it over, passing it to Espio.

"What's it say?" Charmy asked. "Tell me!"

"We're to meet Cassie, Tails and Laurel at Tails' workshop." Espio said. "In three hours. They're having a bit of trouble with time-space distortion and they say something's been stolen."

"Oh good! This should be fun!" Charmy turned circles in the air.

The three hours passed quickly and they eventually found themselves at Tails' door.

"Hey, remember how the Weegee Virus was screwing up his doorbell?" Charmy laughed. "Instead of 'ding-dong!', it said 'You will die! Spaghetti!'" He cracked up, nearly falling out of the air.

"That was by far the creepiest case ever…" Vector sighed.

Tails opened the door, relief in his eyes. "Oh, good! You're here! Follow me!"

The three detectives followed the fox back to his workshop, where a strange device was sitting in the middle of the room. A hedgehog and another fox were staring at it, as though trying to find a loose screw or missing wire. Sitting in a chair near the back of the room was a lonely looking echidna.

"Laurel! Cassie! Justin! The Chaotix are here!" Tails said.

"Oh, good!" The hedgehog said, walking over. "I'm Cassie. Pleased to meet you. This is Laurel and the guy in the corner is Justin."

Cassie was a light blue with parted bangs next to her light green eyes. She wore a lavender tank top, light blue shorts, and red lace up sneakers. Overall, she looked to be about fifteen. Laurel was a bright yellow with blue-green eyes, around nine in age with a pink long sleeved top, blue short overalls, striped yellow and white long socks, a dark pink headband and matching pink sneakers. Justin was almost a red-violet, wearing baggy jeans and a white T-shirt. He looked to be around Cassie's age.

"So what's going on here?" Espio asked.

"We're from the future!" Laurel said excitedly. "And something happened and we ended up here!"

"We're not only from the future…we're from a whole different dimension as well." Cassie sighed. "So getting back will take a while."

"You mentioned something being stolen…?" Vector asked.

"Oh, that. Come with me." Cassie said, leading them to a small back room. The window was blown out, glass scattered all over the floor. A toolbox was upturned, and another metal box was opened, nothing inside.

"We're using something called an Adamantium Power Core to get the device that will send us back going. But just as I was about to get it, the window blew out and someone stole it. It's almost as if they knew we needed it so badly."

"Did you happen to get a look at the thief?" Espio asked, examining the window pane.

"Just a glance." Cassie said. "He was blue. I'm guessing he was a hedgehog, but I'm not certain. He had blue gloves…and some red on a jacket…That's really all I saw."

Vector and Espio exchanged glances. "That almost sounds like…Luke." Vector said.

"But why would Luke be doing this?" Espio asked.

"Didn't you say he sounded…different…over the phone? Evil, even?"

"What's that got to do with it? It probably wasn't Luke at all."

"Remember how Silver was acting when he came in contact with the Apple of Eris? Remember how Lightning and Wind were acting when we found them? And what about Shadow? He's been acting odd too. I think this is somehow connected." Vector said.

"Do you know where we can find Luke?" Cassie asked.

"No. He's gone missing…I don't know where he could possibly be." Espio sighed. "How rare and important is this Core?"

"Really rare. And it's vitally important to our return." Cassie cringed. "I think an ounce of it is worth a thousand dollars…we must have had at least a trillion's worth in that box."

"Does your machine work besides the fact that it has no power source?"

"As far as we know, yes."

"Do you think you could run off of another type of energy?" Vector asked.

"No. It strictly runs off of Adamantium." Cassie shrugged.

Laurel ran into the room, covered in grease. "Cassie! Come quickly!"

Cassie ran after her friend, quickly followed by the three detectives. "What? What is it?"

"Be quiet! There's a guy stealing stuff!" Laurel lead them to another window. Glancing out of it, the five of them could see another side of Tails' house. A window had been neatly cut out in the shape of a circle, the glass resting on the lawn as someone quickly made their way out of their escape route.

"Good Chaos, it_ is_ Luke." Espio sighed. "No…wait…"

"That's Josh!" Vector said. "What's he got in his hand?"

Cassie gasped. "That's my necklace! With it, I can generate electricity to use to fight! It's my only weapon!"

Espio had run for the door, yanking it open and disappearing around the corner. "Stop!"

Josh froze for a second before grinning wildly. He drew a clear gem from behind his back and a flash of light engulfed him. Espio threw a ninja star, but Josh had vanished. His weapon stuck in a nearby tree.

"Was that a Timeond?" Charmy asked quietly.

"I think it was." Vector said.

"What's a Timeond?" Cassie asked, eyes wide.

"…I'm not exactly sure. It's sort of like a Chaos Emerald, except more plentiful. One of our past clients, Fox Downs, can explain it better." Vector shrugged. "Come on. I think Espio found something."

The four of them walked outside, Laurel running over to the tree and carefully dislodging the ninja star from it. The others walked over towards where the glass had been cut out in a perfect circle.

"He left more of a threat than anything." Espio reported from inside, holding up a knife identical to the one that Jack had thrown to them at the pier. "One of Scourge's knives, this one even coming complete in dried blood."

"Who's Scourge?" Laurel asked, handing Espio his weapon back.

"He tried to take over our world once." Vector said. "And I think he might be trying to do it again…this time with help."

"Is there any way you can get the Adamantium back?" Laurel stared at the bloodstained knife.

"Can't guarantee it…but we'll do our best. Scourge has to make the first move." Vector sighed.

**XxXxXxXx**

Bolt had stacked the boxes in the room to act as a shield if someone were to enter the room. She had been sitting in complete darkness for the past three hours now, with no sign of danger or even a sound. All was quiet outside in the halls.

And just as soon as she thought that she'd never get out, the door was opened and someone walked in.

"What exactly does this 'Adamantium' do?" someone asked.

"It's a very powerful substance that can easily teleport us all over to Mobius." Came the reply. "We won't have to waste any power from what we've currently got."

"What about the necklace? Seems pretty unimportant to me."

"It too can channel power." A box shifted close to Bolt. She knew what was in that one; many spare robot parts and pieces.

"This is almost too easy." The first voice chuckled. "Ok. I got what I need. Let's go back."

They left quickly, plunging the room into complete darkness once again.

"I shouldn't just be _sitting_ here!" Bolt growled. "I've got to _do_ something!...But what, exactly?"

**XxXxXxXx**

**The semi-conclusion is here! Just one last major mystery and then the epic conclusion...which is going to be epic! I'm not going to give away any hints, just know that everyone will get their time to shine…**

**I actually had a bit of trouble with this mystery...So I'm trying to make up for it in later chapters. It helps to have some younger clients on the team, so this should be awesome!**

**And so…**

**Next up is Aakash98's mystery.**

**Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

**Lordoftheghostking28**


	13. Chapter 12: Hall of Mystery

** CHAPTER 12: Hall of Mystery**

** Aakash98's mystery.**

** Please note that there is a HUGE difference between OCs **_**Bolt**_** and **_**Volt**_**. For one, Volt is a guy. **

** Ok, on with the story…**

** XxXxXxXx**

Volt flashed a huge grin at the nearest camera as the reporter went on chattering happily. The stage he was currently on was flooded with light; blinding light that made him wish he had brought sunglasses.

"Mr. Volt! What are your thoughts on the Mobius Hall of Fame?" A reporter demanded, sticking a microphone in his face.

"You should invest in some shades for everyone." Volt shrugged.

The audience laughed.

"Any words on your success, then?" The reporter pressed.

"I don't know. Work hard…don't give up?" Volt squinted into the audience. "Although it really is an honor to be here. I myself don't think I deserve to be here."

"Well, Volt…are you ready to be one of the very few to see the Hall?" The reporter continued asking questions.

"I suppose so." Volt grinned again.

"Then follow us!"

Volt followed them off stage, all the while a huge grin on his face and a peace sign on his hand. The crowd roared, and their voices and noise eventually calmed down as the reporters and Volt descended down a flight of stairs, into the basement of the Hall of Fame. A guard met them, dressed in a blue coat and pants complete with a hat pulled low over his face. He motioned for Volt to enter into the room.

What happened next could only be described as chaos.

The guard landed a fist on Volt's head, knocking him to the ground, stunned. He then leapt at the camera crew, throwing the camera into the corner and attacking the reporter. Both of them were thrown against the wall, unmoving. The guard then turned towards Volt and lifted him roughly from the ground.

"One less in the Hall of Fame, one more for the Hall of Mystery."

** XxXxXxXx**

Laurel, Cassie, Justin, and Tails had taken to searching for another power source to travel back into the future while the Chaotix headed back to the agency, not a penny richer and frustrated.

"Another case we can't do anything about," Vector growled. "How many now? _Three_ we can't solve? I'm ashamed to call ourselves detectives!"

They entered the agency, Charmy instantly flying back into the TV room and switching the television on. Espio sat at the front desk and Vector began pacing.

"We should speak to GUN," Espio suggested. "They've got Shadow locked up…supposedly he's been acting odd too. If we can start with him, we may get a lead."

"Or he could just be as helpful as Silver," Vector growled.

"GUYS!" Charmy exclaimed. "COME BACK HERE! THIS IS SCARY!"

The two other detectives made their way back to the TV room. "What?" Vector asked.

"Look! That rich guy, Volt…he's suppost to go to the Mobius Hall of Fame today!" Charmy explained. "But he was kidnapped! Watch!"

On screen a news reporter was just finishing explaining that no one was injured and that they managed to get the attack on camera. The image switched to the camera's point of view during the attack.

The security guard in blue that had been waiting for Volt to arrive had knocked the camera to the side, into a corner. But the lens was still working, picking up the entire battle on its side. The attacker had lost the hat covering his head, providing the police an important clue: the attacker was a Mobian hedgehog, probably a light gray. He picked up Volt from the ground and vanished after a chilling message:

_ "One less in the Hall of Fame, one more for the Hall of Mystery."_

The clip was quickly followed by a picture of Volt in a dark blue jacket with a lightning bolt on it and white shoes, a caption underneath the picture telling the citizens to call the police if anyone had any information on the kidnapping.

"Great,"

Charmy and Espio cast a glance at Vector, who had facepalmed. "Don't tell me Silver did this…"

"That guy did look a lot like him!" Charmy nodded.

"But his voice was deeper and a lot smoother…" Espio pointed out.

"What does he mean by what he said?" Charmy asked, pulling at his antenna. "Something about the _'Hall of Mystery'_?"

"We'll just have to find out. Come on…this mystery is literally begging to be solved." Vector headed for the door. "Besides, we need something to keep us occupied."

"This mystery sounds to me like a_ bad idea_…" Espio muttered, but he followed the two out the door.

** XxXxXxXx**

The Hall of Fame had been roped off with 'CRIME SCENE-DO NOT CROSS' tape, but that didn't stop the Chaotix from walking right in. Surprisingly enough, there were not hoards of guards swarming the place. In fact, it was quite empty. Not a single person anywhere.

"This is odd…" Vector muttered.

"Maybe they're on lunch break!" Charmy suggested.

The group made their way to the large stadium-like stage, where it was nearly pitch dark save for small lights illuminating the walkways. They followed the tiny lights to a staircase set into the back of the stage, coming to the hallway that Volt had been attacked in. It was lighted better in this area of the Hall of Fame, at least enough for the group to start investigating.

Covering one wall was what looked to be splotches of black paint. Espio stopped and stared at it, certain that this hadn't been in the cameraman's video…

"Looks like the kidnapper shed the disguise." Charmy pointed to the guard uniform in one corner.

"Good, that's an added bonus. They might have left clues." Vector walked over, picking up a sleeve of the coat. Short, silvery-white fur clung around the cuff, a dead giveaway clue. "All clues point towards Silver again…"

"But why him?" Espio asked. "What does anyone have against Silver?"

"That's what we're hopefully going to figure out." Vector put a couple scraps of fur in an evidence bag. "In the meantime, we have a great clue."

A door clanged open somewhere upstairs. "We should hurry it up…I think the investigators are coming back." Espio was about to head up the stairs when he stopped and backed up.

"What is it?" Charmy asked.

"Look…" Espio pointed.

"I don't see anything! Come on, we have to go!"

"No, right here!"

Charmy backed up a bit and gasped. The brickwork that formed the stairwell was slightly uneven in places, allowing the black paint along the stairs to seep in more. But if one was to turn at a certain angle and look at it, it would all become crystal clear.

"There's _words_!" Charmy gasped.

" _'Bring ten-thousand worth in money tomorrow outside the Hall, or he will die.'_" Espio read.

"We'll have to do that, then! Come on! The police are going to catch us!" Vector pushed the two other detectives up the stairs. They managed to sneak out a side door before the investigators entered the stage.

** XxXxXxXx**

"Where are we gonna get ten-thousand dollars?" Charmy asked.

"We still have our pay from GUN, right?" Espio asked.

"Well, _most_ of it. We had to repair the back room when Mephiles destroyed it." Vector sighed.

"Hopefully it will be enough to convince the kidnapper to let Volt go." Espio muttered.

"We're going to give them _our_ money?!" Vector growled. "No way!"

"Would you rather have someone put to death over it?" Espio retorted.

Vector didn't say anything. Espio walked over to their safe and began pulling a stack of bills from it. "The kidnapper didn't say what time to meet him, so we'll have to go early and stay late."

"And before that we've got to question Silver!" Charmy said.

"That too." Espio nodded.

** XxXxXxXx**

"What did you do with Volt?!" Vector roared, drawing back a fist as though ready to fight

"_What?!_" Silver scurried backwards, tripping and falling against the wall. He ducked as Vector's fist swung over his head and narrowly missed his ear.

"Vector!" Espio shouted, grabbing the croc's arm before he could take another swing. "What are you _doing_?!"

"Persuasive interrogation!" Vector growled. "Let go of me!"

"More like trying to take his head off!" Charmy squeaked.

"What did I do now?!" Silver gasped, pale as a ghost.

"You're supposedly our number one suspect in a kidnapping. Volt the Hedgehog, who was suppost to be admitted into the Mobius Hall of Fame, has been kidnapped. They've caught footage of the kidnapper on camera, and it appears to be you. We even found silver fur at the crime scene." Espio said, letting go of Vector's arm as Charmy pulled an evidence bag from a pocket.

"See?" the bee handed Silver the bag.

Silver just stared in disbelief at the evidence. "But…I've been under house arrest for the past _week_…"

"Can anyone confirm this?" Espio asked calmly.

"I can," Came a voice from another room. Blaze the Cat walked into the front hall, an annoyed look on her face. "And I can assure you Silver hasn't left this place once."

"Then who else has silver fur?" Charmy asked.

"That we'll just have to find out." Vector said, staring at Silver evilly and cracking his knuckles. "Don't even _think_ about leaving."

"Don't worry. I'm too scared of running into you." Silver hissed.

** XxXxXxXx**

"Get up! Get up! Get up!" Charmy pounded on the door.

"Wha…? Charmy, it's 5:30 in the morning!" Vector growled, dragging himself out of bed.

"But you said to wake you up early so we can save Volt!" Charmy said. Within a few seconds Vector heard him pounding on Espio's door, shouting, "Get up! Get up! Get up!"

Before too long, all three detectives were awake enough to get on with the case. Espio had a locked briefcase in his hand that contained (most of) the ten thousand dollars the kidnapper called for. They left the agency, and headed for the Hall of Fame.

"Hopefully all our questions will be answered here." Vector said.

The sun was just beginning to rise, casting pinkish-orange light over the town. As they approached the Hall of Fame, they became aware of a figure sitting on the front steps, seemingly asleep.

"Hey, you," Vector said. "Have you seen…" He trailed off and began walking a bit quicker.

"What is it?" Charmy asked.

Vector had already approached the figure. "Hey, are you all right?"

In the dim light, the group could make out the ropes circling the figure's body and the gag wrapped around his mouth. He wore a dark blue jacket with lightning bolts and white shoes…

"Volt?" Espio asked.

He nodded. Vector began undoing his bonds. "What happened?"

"I'm not so sure myself." Volt said. "I was attacked, dragged off somewhere, and then brought back here. But I did get a good look at the kidnapper's face."

"What did he look like? Did he have silver fur?" Charmy asked.

"Yeah. It seemed to be glowing slightly too. Like he had control over a large amount of energy." Volt thought for a second. "He was a hedgehog, it was pretty obvious."

"What colour were his eyes?" Vector asked.

"Blue," Volt said instantly. "They were icy cold blue. That was almost the first thing I noticed about him."

"Not gold?" Charmy asked, sounding surprised.

"Believe me, there's a huge difference between blue and gold." Volt said.

"So it _wasn't_ Silver…" Charmy muttered mostly to himself. "Unless he somehow managed to change his eyes."

"I doubt that." Espio glanced around. "Where's the kidnapper? We have the ransom money."

"He left," Volt said. "I don't know where. He told me that this was…a trial…"

** XxXxXxXx**

Nazo chuckled slightly to himself as he entered the darkened room at the end of the hall. Scourge would have finally recovered from his injuries with the help of the Timeond, and there wasn't a second to waste.

Nazo retrieved the gem that Scourge had clasped firmly in his hand. "You've slept long enough! It's time to finally put the final plan in action!"

Scourge twitched slightly and sat up slowly, as though in disbelief that he really was healed. "H…how long?"

"Long enough." Nazo said coldly. "We still have yet to get the Vortex from the detective girl. The Chaotix have passed my test…they may indeed pose a serious threat. We have to move out immediately!"

He tossed the Timeond back to him. "You can use this now. I fused some of my ability into the gem. It will react to you like a Chaos Emerald would. Now follow me."

** XxXxXxXx**

** THUS THE EPIC CONCLUSION BEGINS TOMORROW! **

** Stay tuned!**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28**


	14. Chapter 13: The Rise of Nazo Pt1

** CHAPTER 13: The Rise of Nazo Pt 1**

** AKA the get-everyone-together-and-do-stuff chapter.**

** And thus it begins!**

** PS: Sorry, Aj…I have no idea what you wanted your Chao to look like…so…yeah…**

** XxXxXxXx**

Volt had gone to the police about the kidnapping, leaving the three detectives to wonder back to the agency. They hadn't lost a single dollar, which made Vector very happy.

"Is money all you ever think about?" Espio sighed.

"He thinks about Vanilla too," Charmy chimed in.

"I haven't seen her in three weeks! Be quiet!" Vector growled.

"All the more reason to think about her!" Charmy sang.

They entered into the agency to find GhostKing sitting at the main desk. "Ok, I want to know who woke me up at five thirty this morning screaming, " 'Get up! Get up! Get up!'"

"Me!" Charmy raised his hand. "But I was trying to get Vector and Espio up. Not you. You could have ignored that."

GhostKing rolled her eyes. "Ok, fine, forget it. I just heard you have a bit of trouble solving a few cases."

"So what? We're working on them." Vector said.

"So I've heard."

They sort of stared at each other for a long time.

"This is awkward." Charmy said. "Well, I'm going to eat pancakes!"

"Sounds good to me." Espio agreed.

They were about to head off to the kitchen when the door burst open and Thunder the Lion stumbled in, a terrified look on his face.

"Thunder! What's wrong?" Vector asked.

"He's here! The one that made Wind and Lightning…" He trailed off, going into some sort of shivering fit. "…He's…trying to make me…"

"What? Who are you talking about?" Espio demanded.

Thunder couldn't reply due to the fact that his fangs were growing sharper and longer. His wispy mane began to grow out and his claws extended as strong muscle rippled under his pelt. He had changed…into what could only be described as either a lion intent on killing an intruder or a…

"_MONSTER!_" Charmy screamed.

Thunder's purple eyes seemed to flash fire as he leapt at him, missing and colliding with the main desk, snapping it in half like a twig. Papers flew everywhere as the lion scrambled back to his feet and lunged again for the detectives.

"Get out of the agency!" GhostKing shouted, sword tip an inch from Thunder's nose. "I'll hold him off!"

Thunder knocked both her and her sword to the side. GhostKing hit the wall with a slight gasp and fell, stunned, into the wreckage of the desk. Espio instantly vanished, invisible, and Vector got into a fighting stance. Charmy hid in the curtains.

"Come on and fight me!" Vector roared. "Or are you scared? You little housecat!"

Thunder lunged at him with a ferocious growl. Halfway towards his target he was knocked out of the air, crashing into the wall and shattering a window. Espio became visible a few feet away from the downed cat, looking as though he did this every day.

"Is he dead?" Charmy squeaked.

"No. Just stunned enough to get out of the transformation." Espio said.

Sure enough, Thunder's mane was shrinking back to what it had originally been, the extra muscle and fangs vanishing. He blinked a few times, as though unsure of where he was or what just happened.

"Wh…wha…?"

"You tried to kill us!" Charmy said, flying over. "What did we ever do?"

"I…I did?" Thunder paled slightly.

"We'll worry about you later!" Espio shouted from the door. "Right now…we need to deal with these!"

The group gathered around Thunder turned to see a huge army of robots come marching out of a dark portal. GhostKing struggled to her feet and jumped out the broken window without a sound, saying, "I'll see if I can bring backup!"

"Come on!" Vector darted for the door and began fighting.

** XxXxXxXx**

Aj tried dialing the number again. And again. And again. Every time it was the same message, the recorded "_We're sorry; the number you have dialed is out of order. Please check the number and dial again._"

She was certain that this was the Chaotix Detective Agency's number…

She put the phone down and sort of stared at it, unsure of what to do next. For fifteen years she had been trying to track her real family…With no luck. She decided up deciding to contact the Chaotix as a last attempt…and then the stupid phone didn't work.

The doorbell rang. Aj got up and answered the door. "Hey, guys! I'm glad you could make it."

Sonic, Sonia and Manic more or less pushed their way into the door, casting annoyed glances at each other. "Hi, Aj! Haven't seen you in a while!" Sonic said.

"Yeah, that's why you're here." Aj said, leading them through the house towards a small garden. "Plus I need some tips on raising a Chao."

"Aw, he's cute!" Manic said, picking up Aj's red and green Chao. "What's his name?"

"Two things," Aj said, looking as though she were going to burst out laughing. "One; _he_ is actually a _she_. And two…"

She trailed off as her Chao clamped down hard on Manic's arm, causing him to run around screaming, "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

"…her name is Jaws." Aj facepalmed.

"Payback for stealing my money!" Sonic laughed.

Aj shook her head and went back into the house. "One second, guys. I got lunch right here…"

She reappeared a few minuets later with a large plate filled with chili dogs. Sonic and Manic both grabbed two and began eating, while Sonia sort of grimaced and said, "I'll pass,"

"Suit yourself." Aj dug in.

"So…uh…what's been going on with you lately?" Sonic asked in-between bites.

"Nothing much. Although I have been trying to track down my real family." Aj said. "No luck so far…But I feel as though I'm nearly there! Just a few more hints or clues…"

"We'll help." Manic offered. "And heck, if we can't do anything, we're still here for you. That's what friends are for!"

"Thanks." Aj rolled her eyes. "And they're also good for eating you out of house and home…"

"Hey, I'm hungry!"

"I know. I'm just kidding."

The doorbell rang. Aj got up and ran inside to answer it. "Who's there?"

"It's GhostKing from the Chaotix Agency." Came the reply as Aj opened the door. "I need your help. A second invasion has begun… we need all the help we can get and you're one of the only ones I can reach at the moment…"

"Sonic, Sonia and Manic are here." Aj said. "I'm guessing we'll need them, too?"

"Of course." GhostKing nodded. "Everyone who can fight…you're valuable to this team because you've fought once before."

**XxXxXxXx**

"WHERE THE HECK IS GHOSTKING?!" Vector shouted, narrowly dodging a robot's weapon. He spun around to meet it, fist denting its head in and causing it to short-circuit and fall. Another three robots quickly took its place.

"I don't know!" Espio responded somewhere to his right. Three ninja stars were suddenly imbedded in a robot, knocking it to the side and taking two others out before it exploded in a shower of sparks and metal.

"There's too many!" Charmy wailed, flying out of the battle and hiding in a tree. "What do we do?"

"If Silver or Shadow were here, this would be a piece of cake!" Vector growled, ripping the arms off another robot and kicking it into a mailbox.

"Something tells me we have to get Shadow out here…" Espio muttered mostly to himself. "Vector! I'm going to get Shadow!"

"_What_? You can't just go and break him out of GUN! That's suicide!"

"What other option do we have?" Espio retorted. A robot was flung to the side by some invisible force and another's head popped off before he escaped the hoard and managed to slip away.

"If he gets out alive, I'm going to kill him for leaving me here…" Vector growled.

** XxXxXxXx**

GhostKing glanced back at the group that had slowly but surely accumulated behind her as she searched for backup. Along with Aj, Sonic, Sonia and Manic, she had gathered a lot of past Chaotix clients. Sydney, Connor, Ink, Silhouette, Summer, Moonlight, Sang-Yun, Cassie, Laurel, Justin, and Volt. Along with them, she more or less forced Tails, Blaze, Silver, and Knuckles to come along. Everyone in the mob was wielding some sort of weapon, varying from baseball bats to even a flamethrower.

"Back to the Agency!" GhostKing shouted to them. "Not a second to spare!"

She was about to turn and lead the way when a bright flash of light knocked her backwards. Ink pushed her back onto her feet and GhostKing had to blink a few times to finally register who was in front of her.

"…Did I miss a party?" Fox Downs asked.

"No, you're just in time! We're under attack!" Cassie shouted.

"Well, count me in!" Fox smiled.

"Then let's go!"

They began at an all-out run towards the agency. Just as the sea of robots swam into sight, another blockade halted the group in their tracks. A swirling purple vortex hovered a few feet above the ground. A figure leapt from it, landing gracefully. He straightened, a smug and evil grin on his face. "Hello again. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"_Scourge!_" Aj growled.

"I'm glad you remember me." Scourge grinned even wider. "This time we really will conquer this puny world."

"We? Who's _'we'_? Can't do things by yourself, anymore?" Sonic hissed.

Scourge snapped his fingers and stood off to the side as another figure jumped through the portal. That person was quickly followed by another and another…

"Everyone from last time…" Manic sighed.

Scourge nodded. Behind him, Mephiles, Metal Sonic, Robotnik, Rosy, and a few more robots stood, all ready to fight when the time came.

"Ah, this looks pretty unfair." Rosy said, glancing around the group of the assembled.

"Yeah, we're going to win by a mile!" Sang-Yun said.

"It's unfair…" Rosy repeated. "…For _you_."

"Yeah? How? We have more fighters!" Cassie shouted.

"We have these guys…" Rosy stepped out of the way as more people came through the portal. A few of the members in the resistance group gasped slightly. Luke, Josh, Wolf, Jack, Midnight, Wind and Lightning came through, all seven of them bearing blank looks on their faces.

"So? We'll take you down!" Silhouette cheered.

"We'll see about that." Scourge said. Another figure dropped from the vortex-like portal.

At a first glance, he would have been mistaken for Silver. But a closer look revealed he had icy blue eyes and his fur had an unnatural glow to it. He smirked at the group before announcing in a smooth, calm voice, "I am Nazo."

"And I'm Laurel! So what!" Laurel shouted.

"You…you kidnapped me!" Volt accused.

"You _framed_ me!" Silver growled.

Nazo just grinned evilly, his gaze shifting towards GhostKing's saber, which she had clenched in her fist tightly. He vanished from where he was standing only to re-appear directly in front of her with his hand outstretched.

"Hand over the Vortex and no one gets hurt."

** XxXxXxXx**

Espio had barely managed to slip into the GUN base. A group of soldiers had run from the building, leaving the door open for a total of three seconds before it was forcefully slammed shut. Espio then followed a hallway underground for what seemed like forever, finally coming to a steel door.

He didn't have time to solve the pass code. A swift punch to the keyboard short-circuited the entire thing and the door began to open, just enough for him to get through and continue down the hall. The base was mostly deserted, but Espio didn't blame them. There _was_ a robot invasion on the streets…

"Who's there?" came a voice that could only belong to Shadow.

Espio turned down another hall to see another steel door, this one with three bars covering a small window near the top. Espio aimed a kick at the door's handle, popping it off easily. The door flew open, hitting him in the head and knocking him into the wall. Shadow pulled him up and muttered, "How did you get in here?"

"Long story short; terrible security and lack of guards." Espio growled, rubbing his head. "We need you out there. Scourge has finally decided to attack again, and judging by the army of robots out there, Robotnik is in this too."

"Would it have killed you to come sooner?" Shadow hissed, heading for the door.

"Couldn't find the time," Espio sighed. "Besides, we figured you'd be out of here by now anyway."

"Halt!" a guard shouted.

"Come on, we've wasted enough time here anyway." Shadow skated towards the exit, Espio directly behind him.

** XxXxXxXx**

"What are you talking about? What's the Vortex?" GhostKing hissed.

"Don't play dumb. If you want to be left alive, hand it over." Nazo said.

"No." GhostKing said, clutching the saber's hilt tightly. "You'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers before I give it to you!"

Nazo chuckled softly. "Have it your way."

A sphere of blue-white energy appeared in his hand. GhostKing and the assembled group behind her took a step back as their fur and hair stood on end from the electricity. GhostKing shut her eyes and held the saber out in front of her, ready for death.

But according to fate and a lion, it wasn't yet time for that.

"STOP!" Thunder roared, coming out of nowhere and managing to tackle Nazo to the ground, messing up his shot. The sphere of energy shot off a few inches to the right of GhostKing, striking the pavement and causing a defining explosion that blew everyone off their feet.

Scourge scrambled up from the ground, a thin line of blood tracing its way down his face. He pulled a Timeond from his pocket, snickered, and lunged at Sonic, who was stumbling back to his feet. Before long, a full-out battle began.

"Really glad you could make it, Thunder!" Silver said, dodging Metal's curved, clawlike fingers. "I don't know what's wrong with your friends, but I think it has something to do with that Nazo guy!"

"You don't say…" Thunder sighed, leaping to the side and landing a solid punch on Jack's head. "Speaking of that Nazo guy…where did he go?"

"Couldn't help but overhear, but we'll deal with these guys first! And then we'll throw em' back through that portal and find some way of closing it!" Moonlight let out an intimidating battle cry before throwing himself at his brother, tackling him to the ground before landing punch after punch on his face.

On the outsides of the battle, Sydney, Laurel, Ink, Aj, and Sang-Yun saw one of the fighters slip away. After exchanging silent orders via glances towards each other, they set off after the retreating form.

** XxXxXxXx**

Bolt hadn't heard anything outside the room in three hours. Taking it as a good sign, she risked moving around a bit. But once that quickly grew old, she gathered up all the courage she had and stepped outside the door.

No one around.

She turned left and followed the hall, coming to a carved wooden door that was slightly ajar. Upon pushing it open, she had entered what seemed to be some sort of conference room.

Well…a conference room with a swirling portal in the middle of the room.

On the table was some type of gem, glowing bright as the sun with energy. Its light was shed on the darkness of the portal, which was devouring the glow. No doubt the power source. And it sort of looked familiar in an odd way…

"Chaos Emerald, maybe?" Bolt wondered out loud. She had picked up the gem.

Instantly, the light faded so she could look directly at the gem. It was a slight pink in colour, and mostly transparent. Not a Chaos Emerald, that was sure…but then…what was it?

Bolt turned around to see the portal rapidly closing. Dread gripped her and she leapt through at the last second, still clutching the jewel. She felt as though she were on a rollercoaster, going up and down at lightning speed…

The ride was cut short as she landing on hard cement. Someone tripped over her, someone else was screaming, and all around her came the sounds of battle.

"No!"

Bolt turned to see Mephiles standing behind her, disbelief in his discoloured eyes. "No! NO!"

He cast Bolt a terrifying glare, walking slowly towards her. Bolt began to back up, but stopped once she realized she was about to enter into a fight.

"That…was our _only way back_!" He shouted. "_How could you?!_"

"A…accident…" Bolt squeaked.

"I'm going to kill you for that!" Mephiles threatened. "Just like I had your parents!"

** XxXxXxXx**

** So…they have no way back now…**

** Quoting from Meme land—and please excuse my language— but 'Shit just got real'.**

** TUNE IN TOMORROW FOR THE FINAL EPIC CONCLUSION!**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28**


	15. Chapter 14: The Rise of Nazo pt 2

** Chapter 14: The Rise of Nazo Pt 2**

** Enjoy and review the (almost) last chapter of The Detective Agency II**

** XxXxXxXx**

Sydney, Laurel, Ink, Aj, and Sang-Yun followed the retreating fighter away from the main battle.

"That's Nazo, isn't it?" Ink muttered.

"Yeah. Why's he running? I thought he was going to be as scary as Scourge." Laurel said.

"Maybe he is," Sang-Yun said. "Maybe he fights in a different way than we do."

"That's a scary thought." Sydney shuddered. "But if he doesn't fight with weapons or with his fists…when what does he use to fight with?"

Nazo had stopped next to a building, glancing around. The group ducked into a large bush and continued going towards him, crawling on their elbows and knees. He pulled a ring from his glove, a golden ring that had all sorts of designs and swirls on it. He slipped it onto a finger and turned towards the battle, one hand extended towards the fight. Nazo shut his eyes as a soft silvery glow surrounded him, lifting him a few inches off the ground.

"What is he doing…?" Aj hissed.

"He's fighting." Sang-Yun blinked. "He doesn't fight directly…he fights from the sidelines."

"Yeah? Glowing and levitating are now considered attacks?" Aj sighed.

"He's fighting using pawns." Ink realized. "You saw how some of the past clients were acting! It wasn't of their own free will! He was controlling them…from the sidelines! If we can break his concentration, he might let them go!"

"What are we waiting for?" Laurel asked, an evil grin spreading over her face.

"_KILL THE GLOWY GUY_!" The group shouted, leaping up from the bush.e wHe

** XxXxXxXx**

Bolt had nowhere to go. She could only watch as Mephiles drew closer to her, murder in his eyes. She shut her eyes and wondered what it would be like…dying…

"_LEAVE HER ALONE!_"

Bolt dared to look again. Standing in front of her was Espio, ninja stars in his hands. Mephiles lunged for him with surprising speed, but he was ready, drawing him away from Bolt and back into battle.

"Are you all right?" Johnny asked, pulling her to her feet.

"I'm fine!"

"Then fight!" Johnny growled.

Bolt instantly began helping Espio fight her parent's killer.

** Meanwhile**…

Vector stared in disbelief at the number of robots that kept on coming. He had no strength left to fight them, and to make matters worse, he had no idea where Charmy went. The robots quickly surrounded him, one shooting him with some sort of electric current so he couldn't move. Two more began dragging him down the street, where loud cries, shouts of rage, and fierce battle were heard.

One of the lead robots announced in a booming voice, "_STOP IF YOU WANT HIM TO LIVE._"

The battle quickly ceased, many of the fighters casting him terrified glances. Vector sighed, staring down at the pavement.

Faintly, more battle was heard. The group stared at a group of trees, trying to make out what was going on behind them. Then, all at once, Luke, Josh, Wind and Lightning blinked and stared around, confused looks on their faces. Their eyes weren't blank and lifeless anymore…

"Oh, hey, guys. It's real simple…just fight the guys who are creepy, ok?" Sonic whispered to them.

"_NO TALKING!_" The robot shouted. "_OR HE DIES!_"

A gun barrel was shoved into Vector's neck. Scourge snickered and crossed over to the robots, motioning for his group of invaders to follow. Soon, all that remained on one side were the fighters. On the other were the invaders and Vector.

"Don't you want to see what's going on over there? Seems as though Nazo isn't around, you should be worried!" Fox growled.

"Hand over the Vortex and you all will be spared." Scourge hissed.

"So you can do what, exactly?" Connor shouted. "Destroy us anyway? Take over this world? Take over the universe? Destroy all life as you know it?"

"Something along those lines." Scourge nodded. "But unfortunately, all those who resist are to be condemned to death."

Metal Sonic along with many of the other robots all turned rocket launchers on the group. After a second, Scourge snapped his fingers and they fired.

A terrific explosion nearly knocked the invaders off their feet. Bits of concrete and dirt showered them and the dust was so thick they couldn't see anything.

"_NO!_" Vector shouted. "_NO! HOW COULD YOU?!_"

Scourge just grinned, drawing a Timeond out of his pocket. "Want to join them? You're no use to us anyway."

A fist connected solidly with his head, knocking him to the side. The Timeond flew out of his grasp and into the dust that was still settling.

"What? Who did that?" Scourge demanded, turning.

Through the dust, he made out a blue dome covering part of the road. As the dust settled even further, he realized with growing fury that the group had been spared, protected by some sort of force field…

…generated by the blue sapphire—the Vortex—on GhostKing's saber. She lowered the sword and the shield fizzled out, aiming the blade at Scourge's head. "_ATTACK!_"

** XxXxXxXx**

Nazo had snapped out of the trance he was seemingly in as the group attacked him. He dodged Aj's fist and dodged Ink, at the same time landing a blow hard enough on Laurel's head to make her lose her balance. Sang-Yun grabbed a tree branch and ran at him, but Nazo held a hand out in front of him, his eyes flashed bright blue, and the weapon Sang-Yun was holding became too heavy to hold. Sydney landed a punch on his head, forcing him to lose concentration and allow Sang-Yun to recover slightly.

"You fight well." Nazo grinned, dodging their attacks skillfully. It was as though he had been doing this his entire life.

"Well, we have a world to protect. When you have something that important resting on your shoulders, you don't tend to fight lightly." Sydney growled.

"When you know you will be in control of the universe, you don't tend to back off." Nazo countered, landing a strong punch on her stomach. Sydney flew backwards into Laurel, both of them slamming into a tree.

"Leave them alone!" Aj shouted, throwing a good-sized rock with all her might.

The rock halted in midair as Nazo's eyes began to glow. In a split second, the rock was hurtling back towards Aj's face ten times the force she had thrown it.

But much to her astonishment, it stopped an inch from her nose, held in place by some sort of light blue energy…

"You know, I was under house arrest because of you." Silver growled, letting the rock drop at Aj's feet. "I was framed for everything you've done!"

Nazo chuckled. "All part of the plan, of course."

He twisted the ring with the strange markings around his finger before pulling a Timeond from behind his back. "And in this part, you're going to die."

** XxXxXxXx**

"Chaos Emerald, anyone?" Tails asked worriedly, ducking under a robot and scurrying around Moonlight and Midnight, who were literally tearing each other's fur out.

"Took long enough!" Shadow grabbed two from him and swiftly blasted back an oncoming robot. "Get the others to Sonic, Silver, and anyone who can control Chaos Energy!"

"Got it!" Tails squeaked, ducking and dodging through the attack.

Shadow turned to find Metal behind him, its eyes fixed on the Emeralds in his hand. Shadow turned and faced the robot, ready to fight. Metal didn't disappoint him. The robot wrapped its unliving hands around his neck, threatening to strangle him. Shadow called upon the Chaos Energy and used it to blast it back, knocking Wolf to the ground in the process. Now both of them had set their sights on him and were advancing quickly.

"Bring it," Shadow stood in a fighting stance, both Emeralds at the ready.

Before they could get within fighting range, something happened. The two Emeralds seemed to be vibrating in Shadow's hands, as though trying to break free. With a strong wrench, they escaped his fists and shot into the air, drifting towards where other sounds of battle were happening. Shadow watched as the other Emeralds met the same fate, trailing off somewhere…

"Oh, good Chaos…" Shadow muttered before Metal's fist connected solidly with his temple, knocking him backwards. Wolf dug the heel of his shoe sharply into his side preventing him from getting up.

"One down," Wolf hissed, pressing the muzzle of a gun to Shadow's forehead. "See ya."

BANG!

Shadow thought he was dead, but Wolf hadn't even come close to pulling the trigger. He was staring towards where the Chaos Emeralds had drifted off, a confused and triumphant look on his face.

BANG!

A flash of light, and then a scream. Everyone had stopped fighting, staring over towards the woods with confusion on their faces.

Something shot into the sky and hovered there for a few seconds before descending slowly towards the group.

"N…Nazo?!" Scourge gasped. "What did you do?"

"What I have planned to do all along!" Nazo laughed. He had changed both in appearance and voice. He was now a bloodred, his eyes bright yellow surrounded by black. His voice was deeper and more menacing, and he seemed to radiate pure power. "The ring…a power enhancer…combined with the Timeonds and Chaos Emeralds…I am truly unstoppable!"

He conjured a ball of pure energy in his hands before hurtling it; not at the fighters…but at Scourge.

He was knocked off his feet and thrown into the side of a house, stunned.

"You insignificant fool," Nazo laughed. "You truly thought I was helping you?e was H I was _using_ you! How else would I rise to full power and gather my fighters? But now that I am complete…you are unneeded."

He smirked at the group. "Now…any last words before I destroy your world?"

"You're not complete!" Cassie shouted.

"Yeah!" Connor spoke up. "You're not!"

"What about the Vortex? Huh?" Summer growled.

Nazo laughed, sending chills down the spines of the fighters. "What do you think is stopping me from taking it right at this moment?"

"I dunno…let's see…_US?_" Moonlight sarcastically shouted.

"Come and get it!" Vector shouted.

"Fine. I will." Nazo knocked aside Manic, Sonic and Silhouette, who were sort of in the way of GhostKing. He flew towards her, a sphere of energy clenched in his fist.

And yet, something stopped him.

Something by the name of 'Charmy'.

"LEAVE MY BOSS ALONE YOU FREAKY GLOWY GUY!" He screamed, tugging with all his might on Nazo's ears, forcing him to stop.

"Well, at least I know where Charmy is now…" Vector mumbled to himself.

"You _pest!_" Nazo hissed, swatting at the bee and dislodging him, sending him flying backwards. He turned to face GhostKing and was now greeted by Espio, two ninja stars in his hand. Fox was right behind him, Timeond in hand.

"_ATTAAACK!_" Charmy shouted from the pavement a few feet away.

** XxXxXxXx**

"Is…is everyone ok?" Laurel asked, slowly getting up.

"Yeah…holy crap, it's amazing we didn't die!" Aj muttered, dragging herself up from the ground and swaying a bit. "My leg hurts…"

"At least you still _have_ a leg!" Sydney shouted. "But at the same time, I should be thankful it was my robotic leg…"

"Oh, that's awful!" Sang-Yun grimaced. "Are you ok otherwise, Sydney?"

"I'm fine…just really off balance…" She growled.

"Help me gather the Emeralds!" Silver said, forcing himself over towards where the scattered gems were lying. "If we can get them to Shadow and Sonic, we might have a chance at stopping Nazo!"

"That is…if they're not dead…" Aj muttered as a scream cut though the sounds of explosion and battle.

"Come on, we've got to do this!" Sang-Yun ran over and assisted Silver.

"Hey, can someone hand me my leg?" Sydney asked. "Wow, that sounded weird…"

"Uh…here." Aj said awkwardly, nudging the robotic limb over towards the cyborg. "Can you repair it?"

"No clue. Probably not." Sydney muttered. "But I can still use it as a crutch."

"Come on!" Silver shouted. He and Sang-Yun had the Emeralds and were running back towards the others.

The sight that greeted them wasn't a good one. Both fighters and villains were mostly unmoving, looking as though they were all knocked out in one giant hit. Silver quickly pulled Sonic to his feet and used the Emeralds to revive him. "Come on! We need to stop him!"

"Wh..what about the others?" Sonic muttered, glancing around.

"Aj, Ink, Sydney, Sang-Yun and Laurel will help them." Silver said. "We need Shadow. Where is he?"

"Over there somewhere." Sonic took the Emerald and managed to stand by himself. "But we have no chance…He's already gone off and destroyed half the city…!"

"So? There's three of us and one of him!" Silver said.

"Four,"

Sonic and Silver turned to see Scourge, an angry look on his face. "I'll help you, just this one time. He needs to be stopped before he gets to my world."

"We can't trust you." Sonic growled.

"Yeah? He's as powerful as ten of us. You need all the help you can get." Scourge protested.

"We don't have much choice." Shadow said as he stumbled over. "Scourge, you're with us. But as soon as this is over, get out of this world before I Chaos Blast you there."

Scourge nodded. "I can live with that." He accepted an Emerald from Silver.

The four of them stood in a small circle, Chaos Emeralds all raised. "Chaos…"

In the distance, an explosion took place, sending a column of smoke into the air.

"…CONTROL!"

**XxXxXxXx**

** And so, my friends, ends Part 2.**

** So that means there will be a part three.**

** And Scourge is now a good guy. How the heck did that happen. I must have written this at twelve at night…oh wait…I did.**

** Anyway, I can't believe I didn't mention this before anywhere, but the knives that Scourge had all throughout ****The Detective Agency**** and the knife that Jack had are all based off of a knife **_**I**_** have. I made my knife evil. That's just the way I am.**

** It's under my pillow. I'm ready for someone to break in. So never break in.**

** …**

** I'm tired.**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28**


	16. Chapter 15: The Rise of Nazo Pt 3

** CHAPTER 15: The Rise of Nazo Pt 3**

** OK, LAST CHAPTER, I SWEAR!**

** I had an overload of ideas last night…not always a good thing…**

** Anyway, the final (And this time I mean it) epic conclusion is here! *takes handful of streamers and throws them into the air and then grabs a bottle of that whipped cream spray and unloads it in mouth* **

** Ok, hopefully none of you did that. I'm just on a sugar high. **

** XxXxXxXx**

"Ok…good news and bad news. Which do you want first." Connor asked, shaking Silhouette awake.

"I…uh…what? What's going on? What happened?" She jumped up and glanced around the destroyed street.

"Well, the good news is that Scourge is now on our side." Connor said.

"I don't think that's necessarily a _good_ thing…" Silhouette muttered.

"…Once you think about it, it really isn't," Connor nodded. "But anyway, it's the best news I can offer at this time. The bad news is right behind you. DUCK!"

Silhouette managed to duck as Jack swung his fist at her, missing. She kicked him backwards and managed to get in a fighting stance, Connor right behind her.

"We need to keep these guys busy while Sonic, Shadow, Silver and Scourge defeat Nazo." Connor said. "Everyone else is sort of in the process of waking up. Something tells me if Nazo gets taken out…we'll win."

"This is going to be fun." Silhouette sighed.

** XxXxXxXx**

Sonic, Shadow, Silver and Scourge finally found Nazo halfway across town, in the process of destroying the main hall. Sonic knocked him out of the air and into the brick wall of a department store, where they began to fight.

"Come on!" Silver darted after them.

"Even with your combined efforts, you cannot destroy me." Nazo said. "My power is magnified by the ring and I can easily draw extra power from your Super forms!"

"Oh, you can?" Sonic landed a solid punch on his face. "Awesome. Just know that while we're in this form we can still kick your butt."

Nazo knocked him backwards enough so he could get back to his feet. He levitated a bit off the ground, a mass of energy swirling in his fist. He flung it at Shadow, missing by mere centimeters and causing another building to explode into flames. Silver picked up a nearby car with his power, flinging it at Nazo.

The car broke into two, not alarming him in the slightest. "Is that really all you've got?"

"Of course not." Scourge hissed, two knives in his hands. "We're just starting."

In a flash of light, all five of them began to fight.

** XxXxXxXx**

Ink limped as fast as she could over towards Wolf, who had managed to bring down Summer. With a loud battle cry, Ink threw her arms around the back of Wolf's neck, tightening her arms around his neck.

He fell backwards, rolling to the side. Ink lay, stunned and slightly hurt, as he stood again, a gun aimed at her face. "Such foolish bravery."

Two gunshots rang out, but they weren't from Wolf's weapon. He stumbled to the side, a look of shock on his face before he fell. Ink turned to see Fox as he threw an empty pistol to the side. "He's not dead." He said softly. "Come on, we should help the others."

"We're at a total standstill." Ink said. "No one's winning or losing. No one's been killed, but that can easily change!"

"They could easily gain the upper hand." Fox muttered. "I just don't know why they're not doing it. Robot incoming on your right."

Ink spun around and knocked the robot's head clean off its shoulders. It powered down and fell to the side. "…Impressive." Fox managed to say.

"More where that came from." Ink said, wincing slightly. "But I don't think my ankle will last much longer. Come on, we should help Summer."

** XxXxXxXx**

"Have I ever mentioned…" Aj ducked as Midnight took a swipe at her with a short dagger. "…that you guys…" She caught his fist and twisted it the wrong way, causing him to drop his weapon. "…seemed really familiar to me even before we officially met? I mean…I saw you, and it was like déjà vu."

"I can relate to that." Manic threw a drumstick at Midnight, catching him just above his right eye and stunning him.

"Yeah, same." Sonia caught Midnight in his stomach wither foot.

"Hey, we even fight alike." Aj shrugged, finally downing Midnight with a punch to the head. A few seconds later, Moonlight ran up.

"Aw, come on!" He growled. "Can't a brother take out his own kin?!"

"Not today." Manic grinned.

"Maybe tomorrow, though." Aj said sarcastically, watching as Moonlight ran to help Vector, Espio and Bolt with Mephiles. "What did you say back at the house before GhostKing came and dragged us out here?"

"We'd help you find your family." Sonia said. "And we will. Just as soon as we get out of this…alive."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Aj grinned.

** XxXxXxXx**

"_SILVER!_" Sonic shouted.

But it was too late. Nazo had thrown another tiny sphere of energy at them, Silver stepping in front of Shadow to take the hit. He was now lying motionless in the rubble of a house, useless in the fight.

"That evens things up a bit." Nazo chuckled. "Now…where were we?"

"I was just about to smash your face with a brick." Scourge growled, said object in his hand. Both knives were in the other. He darted at Nazo, but was flung aside like a rag doll.

In a snap of his fingers, Nazo held another energy sphere in his hand as he took aim at Scourge.

"He seems to rely on that." Shadow muttered. "Is there any way we can get it to possibly rebound?"

"I don't know." Sonic admitted as Scourge dodged the attack, rushing back at Nazo. "But I think I have an idea. Keep him busy."

He flew down into the wreckage of the nearby house and retrieved Silver before flying back towards where the first fight had taken place.

"What? Are you crazy?" Shadow shouted, but Sonic was long gone. He turned his attention back on the situation at hand, which would be Nazo. Scourge had retreated a bit, knives clenched tightly in his hands.

"What are you waiting for?" Nazo grinned.

** XxXxXxXx**

"GhostKing! GhostKing! Where's your sword?" Sonic demanded, helping her up from the ground.

"My…sword? R…right here…" GhostKing blinked, dazed. "Why?"

"The Vortex…you created some sort of shield and that protected us. I think it's the only way to stop Nazo." Sonic said.

"Just promise me one thing." GhostKing detached the sapphire from her sword. "Don't lose it."

"Sure." Sonic nodded, flying back as fast as he could. He returned a moment later. "Uh…could you keep an eye on Silver? I think he's dead."

"Um…sure…" GhostKing said as he flew off again.

** XxXxXxXx**

"I think the only way to stop him is to rebound his attack." Shadow said. "Sonic thinks he has a plan to stop him."

"I have one too." Scourge growled. "And we can't wait for Sonic to get back! We're losing power…fast!"

"What is it?"

"I have to show you." Scourge flew at Nazo again with the last of his fading strength. Nazo grinned again, energy sphere at the ready.

"SCOURGE!" Shadow shouted. "NO!"

The energy sphere hit him head on in a brilliant flash. At the same time, Shadow felt the last of the Chaos Energy sustaining his Super form slip away, sending him falling towards the ground. He managed to land on his feet and ran for his stunned enemy.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow growled. Twin bolts of energy kept Nazo from rising again. The look of shock on his face was slowly becoming replaced with a look of…was it fear?

"Shadow!" Sonic shouted, running up and stopping next to him. "I have the Vortex! And…what happened?"

"Give it here!" Shadow grabbed the gem and aimed it at Nazo. A beam of light blue shot from the stone and surrounded him in a thick force field, preventing him from escaping.

"No! NO! _NO_! I CAN'T BE STOPPED! YOU _WILL_ PAY FOR THIS!"

"Unfortunately, someone as powerful as you cannot be kept alive." Shadow hissed.

"Shadow! We can just…" Sonic trailed off as another beam shot from the Vortex, shooting straight through the force field and striking Nazo. There was a brilliant explosion of light that made the force field give out, nearly blinding the two hedgehogs. When they could see again…nothing remained of their enemy.

"It's over." Shadow sighed. "At last."

"What about Scourge?" Sonic asked. "Where is he? What exactly happened?"

"I don't know…but from what I guess…he used his knives to rebound the energy." Shadow pointed to the right. "I think he fell somewhere over there."

They ran towards the rubble of another building. Lying among the debris was Scourge, unmoving and appearing dead.

"Scourge! Can you hear me?" Sonic demanded, shaking his shoulders. "_Scourge!_"

Scourge's eyes opened slightly and he managed to choke out, "Did we…win?"

"Of course. If we didn't, we wouldn't be here." Sonic said. "Come on, we're getting you to a hospital."

"And…then off to jail…right?" Scourge asked. "Just let me die…!"

"No, not jail." Shadow spoke up. "We'll make sure you get back to your dimension. We owe you for stopping Nazo."

** XxXxXxXx**

Bolt was more than relieved when Sonic appeared on the scene. That meant two things: They had more good guys, and Nazo had to have been defeated. Cassie jumped up beside him, a glowing pinkish gem in her hand. It began to glow, opening a small portal. Sonic aimed a few kicks at Mephiles' head, knocking him backwards and out of sight in the dark vortex.

"May I ask what planet that was set to?" Sonic asked once the portal closed.

"Honestly, I don't know." Cassie grinned. "Come on, let's get the others!"

Bolt watched them go, a bit surprised that things had changed from life threatening to almost normal again. She turned to find Espio behind her, gathering up ninja stars.

"Well…that ended well." She said.

"Could have been better." Espio glanced around the destroyed city. Emergency crews were already arriving, putting out fires and gathering the injured into ambulances.

"At least none of us died." Bolt shrugged. "Come on, these guys could need some help."

** XxXxXxXx**

"So…which of us were taken by an ambulance?" Vector asked a bit later.

"Silver and Sydney… although Sydney just needs her leg re-attached. That sounded weird. Besides them, Ink's been taken because the paramedics are convinced she broke her ankle. I think Volt has a concussion…oh, and Scourge was taken." Manic said.

"What? Really?"

"Yeah. No sign of Nazo, Sonic said he exploded."

Vector sighed, glancing over towards where Laurel, Cassie and Justin were throwing a mini-party. "We can go back to the future now!" Cassie cheered. "We have the Adamantium!"

"…Isn't that a movie?" Connor asked.

"Hey. Vector." Fox said, coming over. "What about the stolen Timeonds?"

"I don't think there's anything we can do." Vector admitted. "But you said yourself that only your kind can use the power of the gems."

"Nazo could…somehow." Fox sighed. "But I think he was an exception. I'll go back to my planet and see if I can find a way to get the gems back from there."

"Well, seeing that Cassie and Sonic threw everyone through a portal to some unknown dimension, that may be a good choice." Vector facepalmed.

"Vector! That was scary! Can we eat ice cream?" Charmy asked, flying over. "If I eat ice cream I won't have nightmares forever."

"Not now, Charmy!" Vector growled.

Aj, Sonia, Sonic and Manic walked by them, all four of them exclaiming loudly about how they were somehow related…however distantly.

"Wait! Maybe we're not distantly related at all!" Manic said. "Maybe we're…quintuplets or something!"

"Yeah, three hedgehogs and a human…real logical." Sonia muttered.

"Hey, you never know. Even if I don't find out who my real family is…you guys will always be my true one!" Aj shrugged. "That is…if I didn't already find them."

"This is confusing." Sonic sighed.

**XxXxXxXx**

"Where are we?"

"I hope it's somewhere at least halfway decent."

"We're in the middle of nowhere!" Wolf shouted, clenching his arm. His bullet wounds had not been treated, and blood stained his hand and arm.

"Hold on, we'll make it back." Midnight assured.

"Yeah, right…"

"We do have a way back." Robotnik said, holding up a golden ring. "A sure way back. I just need some equipment…"

** XxXxXxXx**

** Anyone seen that YouTube movie?**_** Nazo Unleashed**_**?**

** It's pretty good. Check it out. I did not make it. **

** Anyway, so that's the end! Good guys win…? Or maybe the bad guys prevail just enough to ensure a sequel? I don't know. Just remember to review. **

** Oh, wait! I sense a few loose ends! Don't go away yet! There's a bit after these Author Notes that don't exactly qualify as a chapter in my eyes!**

** So here is the last bit of**** The Detective Agency II****!**

** XxXxXxXx**

** ONE MONTH LATER…**

"Remember what you said? About Bolt? Remember?" Charmy asked, buzzing around Espio's head.

"What? What did I say?" the chameleon growled.

"You said you wouldn't ever develop feelings for her!" Charmy giggled. "And now look at you! What'd you do, steal Vector's cologne?"

Espio flung a ninja star, pinning part of Charmy's jacket to the wall. The bee quickly broke free and flew off. "VECTOR! HE TRIED TO KILL ME AGAIN!"

"Shut up, Charmy!" Vector growled.

That was about when the door opened and a soft voice called, "We're here!"

"_BREEZY_!" Charmy screamed. "I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!"

"Yeah, I missed you too, Charmy!" Breezy the Cat said.

"Hi, Vector!" Vanilla said. "I haven't seen you in a long time either."

"It's good you could make it." Vector said, looking slightly awkward. "Uh…I wasn't really planning anything special, but we could always go out and get something to eat…"

"ICE CREAM!" Charmy suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." Vanilla said.

Espio slowly came down the stairs, glancing over the group quickly. Vanilla turned and said, "Sorry, Bolt's not here yet. She should be shortly, though…"

She trailed off as the door opened and Bolt entered. She caught sight of Espio and waved. "Hey! Now that the party's all here, let's go eat!"

They all headed back out of the agency, passing a couple of huge ladders along the way.

"Hey, GhostKing! Good job!" Vector said.

"Thanks." GhostKing growled.

"What is she doing?" Charmy asked.

"She's scraping tape and paint off the side of the agency. She managed to get her friend Sarah to help, don't know how, though. By the time we get back, this place should be re-painted." Vector said.

"Cool! Is it going to be red?"

"No."

** XxXxXxXx**

"So…what's happened to Scourge?" Vanilla asked.

"Sonic kept his promise. Scourge's back in his dimension, although he has been advised to never return here. Because if he does, I think we'd accidentally kill him. Oh, and Silver's fine too…but now he's been instructed to not leave his house for another month or two to make sure he's fully healed."

"Oh, that's terrible! First you set him under house arrest…and now this!" Vanilla laughed.

"Yeah, he's got the worst luck out of all of us…"

They sat for a few seconds, watching the other 'couples.' Espio and Bolt were talking quietly, as though paranoid of being overheard. Charmy and Breezy were laughing loudly, both their faces slightly red.

"I know what could complete this picture." Vanilla smiled.

"What's that?" Vector asked.

"We need to get GhostKing to join us. She's the only one without a 'special someone'."

"We'll just have to work on that…" Vector agreed.

** XxXxXxXx **

** I'm the Forever Alone detective. Hurray!**

** Ok, so that's the end. At least no one kissed. Technically, Espio can't kiss a girl…he'd poke her eye out….**

** I'm sorry, Espio, please don't kill me.**

** Anyway….yeah. The end. Please comment! I like comments! Thank you all to everyone who sent stuff in! This was really awesome! **

** And quite possibly I might write a FanFic entitled**** The Detective Agency 3****, but I doubt it at the moment.**

** If any of you are interested in a STAR TREK and Sonic crossover, head to my channel and check out ****Rise Against****!**

** Hasta la Vista, Readers!**

** Lordoftheghostking28**


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